The Right to be Born
by envy1423
Summary: "Your biological fathers name is Uchiha Sasuke. He was my best friend and teammate. But he was also considered a traitor, a deserter, and was an international war criminal. This is the story of the last few days of his life, and in the end he realized that one person's happiness was worth more to him than his life." Summary Change FemNaru/Shika Slight FemNaru/Sasu
1. Chapter 1

Ok yes Hi! I know I should really be updating Because I was selfish, but I'm stuck. And I have heard that writing a new story could help jumpstart the creative juices.*crosses fingers* I do not know when I will get back to that one, but I will eventually. This story however will be done in the second chapters no ifs and or buts about it. Um as always I love to hear from you guys. I hope you enjoy this story. I am posting this and then going right into writing the second half. Hope you enjoy!

*I own nothing*

Please excuse all grammatical and spelling errors.

* * *

Kiba stormed down the halls of the Hokage building. Rage like he had never felt before coursing through his veins. He couldn't believe it. After all these years. After everything they went through together. She had lied to him. To all of them.

Bursting through the big double doors, Kiba jostled into the ANBU guard as he headed straight for his Hokage. The shouts of the guards and people in the room fell on deaf ears as he stared straight into her bright blue eyes, grabbed her by her throat, lifted her out of her chair, and rammed her against the wall.

"Why wasn't I told!" he hissed. "Why didn't you tell me!"

Naruto held up her hand to stop the guards from acting. No matter how off Kiba was acting he was still her friend and she was curious as to what was wrong with him.

"What are you talking about, Kiba?"

He slammed her against the wall again. "Why didn't you tell me?" he said again, a snarl echoing deep in his throat. "I should have been told. The moment you made me his Sensei I should have been told!" he yelled spittle flying from his mouth. "Does Shikamaru even know?"

"Do I know what?" Shikamaru drawled from his right. Fingers poised and ready to activate his kagemane at any moment should Kiba pose a threat to Naruto.

"Do you know that Kaien isn't your son!"

Gasps filled the room as Naruto's eyes widened. All was quiet as everyone in the area waited to hear Naruto's response, but the one thing no one expected to hear was the quiet little voice that rang in the silence.

"Shikamaru's... not my father?"

Everyone turned to look at the young ebony haired genin standing with his two teammates. "Kaien.." Naruto started but the young boy took off as soon as she spoke his name. Turning back to the man in front of her she ordered, "Let me go Kiba."

"Naruto what is he talking about?" Sakura, who had been at the meeting, questioned.

"Oh, didn't she tell you?" he sneered. "Kaien is-"

"Kiba don't do this." Naruto pleaded, tears starting to fill her eyes.

"What, don't want everyone to know who his real father is?"

"I'm his father." Shikamaru stated firmly.

"Like hell you are." he growled to Shikamaru. But one look at him and he knew. "You know? Don't you? All this time you both knew and never told us."

"Told us what?" This time it was Hinata who questioned him. She had been inching slowly towards her husband in hopes that she could get him to let go of their friend.

"That Kaien is Sasuke's son!" he yelled as he shoved Naruto towards her husband. Shikamaru caught her and wrapped his arms around her gently to help her stand on her own two feet.

Naruto's hand came up to rub her neck tenderly as she refused to look at anyone in the deathly silent room. _They know! They know! _Echoed in her head as she stared at the floor.

Too deep into her inner turmoil she failed to hear the click of heels cross the wooden floor, and was back-handed across the face.

Raising her hand to her cheek she turned shocked eyes to see Sakura standing before her, hand still in the air. "How could you!" she raged. "You knew how I felt about him. How much I loved him. How much I wanted to be with him." Tears quickly started to overflow down her face. "How could you do that to me."

Overcoming her shock Naruto looked at her friends. Seeing the hurt and disappointment in their eyes ignited a spark within her. "Don't give me that bullshit, Sakura! You, all of you, have no right to judge me. Don't act as if you didn't know! All of you, like everyone else in this village, have absolutely no right to get angry with me!" she yelled.

"Look underneath the underneath, right? Just look at my son and tell me that none of you actually saw that just maybe he might be related to Sasuke!" By now she wasn't quite sure what had taken her over, but after the years of mistreatment as a child she was finally was going to say the things she's had on her mind. "Tell me!" she demanded.

"I'm blonde. Shika is a brunette, and you all are telling me that in the twelve years Kaien has been alive none of you have questioned where the blue tinted ebony hair came from? None of you!" she snorted. "Just like when I was a kid. right? Blonde hair and blue eyes and no one thought, 'Huh doesn't that little boy look like the Yondaime?' You all chose not to see it because you didn't want to and I won't have you giving me shit because I didn't tell you!"

She turned to look at Shikamaru, rose onto her tiptoes and kissed him on the corner of his lips. "I'm going to find our son." she spoke spoftly and pushed pass the shinobi staring at her.

Sakura made to grab her, but Shikamaru quickly took hold of her wrist. "Let her go Sakura. She needs to check on our son."

"But he isn't your son!" she shot back harshly.

"I have raised that boy since the day he was born." he spoke cleary so nobody would ever question him on it again. "I was there every time he woke up crying in the middle of the night. Every cold he had I helped take care of him. Ever dream, every nightmare, every time he fell, every achievement, every moment of his life I have been there. There is no doubt in my mind that that boy is _MY_ son! Mine!" he pointed to himself. "I don't care which man put his DNA into him to help bring him into this world, because it will never change the fact that he is and will forever be my son!"

With those words hanging in the air Shikamaru left to go find his wife and the son not of his blood, but of his heart.

* * *

Naruto ran out of her office, down the hall, and out of the building. She had to find her son. To explain to him what had happened. Why he was here. Why his parents did what they did.

She quickly activated Sennin Mode and searched the entire village for his chakra. Looking in the direction she felt it in a small smile tugged at her lips.

She ran to the west side of town, through the market place, over the creek, and up the largest hill that overlooked that side of the village. On the top were several tall trees, and she found him sitting with his back against the biggest one. The same one she used to lay with Shikamaru underneath before Kaien was born. The same one they used to take Kaien to play under and have picnics. The very same one that she had so often come to to find her children alseep under, curled up next to their father.

Sighing, she slowly walked over and sat down next to her baby. While not much of a baby anymore, being twelve and a genin, she knew, as every mother knew, that he would always be her baby. Whether he liked it or not.

She looked to him and he was silently crying. Tears running down his face she reached out to pull him to her. She wanted nothing more then to hold him as he cried, but he slapped the hand that reached out to him.

"Don't touch me." he didn't yell. He was calm. Very, very calm, and it scared her a little.

"Kaien, honey..." she started. "Will you please talk to me. Let me explain."

"No!" he stood. Fists shaking at his sides. "I don't want to hear anymore lies!"

"Sit down, son."

Kaien whirled around and came face to face with the man he had thought his entire life was his father only to find out he wasn't. A man he loved so much had spent years lying to him. He didn't want to hear anything out of his mouth. "I'm not your son!" He shouted for the first time.

He started to walk away, but was quickly grabbed by the shoulders and spun around. He looked into deep brown eyes. He had never in his life seen his father look so stern. Shikamaru had been a lazy, but respectable father. He let Kaien do pretty much whatever he wanted within reason, and was there for him when he failed. To impart his wisdom about why things happened the way they did and what he could to do to make things better. He had always had so much respect for this man standing in front of him. Had loved him, trusted him, but he lied and all that trust and respect and love was gone.

"Listen to me well, Kaien." he leaned down so they were of a more even height. "You are my son. You will always be my son. Even when this is all over. When you have listened to your mother and I and have heard the whole story. Even if you decide you don't want me as your father. That doesn't change the fact that to me, you are my son. Now sit and listen to your mother."

Kaien knew that if Shikamaru wanted to he could kagemane him to sit there the entire time. But Shikamaru walked over to his mother and sat next to her and leaned against the tree as Naruto leaned into him. He closed his eyes and just held her hand.

They were giving him a choice. If he wanted to leave they'd have actually let him. And while he wanted to leave he appreciated that they were giving him a choice. So he sat with his legs crossed in front of him and waited for them to start.

"Before I tell you everything I want to know something first." Naruto stated. With a nod from Kaien she continued. "What happened on your mission with Kiba?"

Kaien titled his head to the right and thought about what he wanted to say. "We went to deliver the scroll to Uncle Gaara. Everything was fine actually. We did what we were supposed to, stayed the night, and headed home the next day. The first day was normal and then the second day we came across some rogue shinobi. Kiba-sensei and Akamaru got separated with Hikaru. I was by myself as I fought of one of them. Then I heard Mayu-chan scream." he was looking at the ground. Tracing unknown patterns in the grass.

"I knocked my guy out and ran to where I heard her. One man had her pinned down and the other was laughing and egging his buddy on. The things they were saying it pissed me off! I felt this uncontrollable rage build inside me at the things they said they'd do to Mayu-chan. I don't remember what happened next." He scratched the back of his head.

"Everything went black, or white, or red I don't really know. The next thing I know Mayu-chan is next to me and I'm covered in blood. I killed them." he grew quiet. Naruto made to reach out to him, opened her mouth to say something, but Shikamaru stopped her. Pantomimed for her to hush and they waited for Kaien to continue.

"The next thing I do remember is Kiba-sensei in front of me checking to see if the blood was mine. I told him it wasn't that I killed the two men. Mayu-chan was scared still and shaking. I noticed because she was holding the back of my shirt and it was making me jerk a bit. Kiba-sensei asked me to explain what had happened. I tried. I started with how I found Mayu-chan, and as I was explaining I felt that rage again. Like I wished they were still alive so I could kill them again. I told this to sensei, and when I looked up at him he looked like I had punched him in the gut.

"Then he got angry really angry and started cursing, and damning you mom. I didn't know what I had done wrong. He was in such a rush to get back. Talking about how he was going to kick your ass. I didn't understand, but I do now. Sort of. And I feel pretty much the kind of rage at this moment." There he finally looked at them.

Naruto's soft gasp drew Shikamaru to open his eyes and look as well. There spinning lazily was one perfect tomoe of an underdeveloped Sharingan.

At Kaien's confused look Naruto smiled softly and grabbed a mirror out of her weapons pouch. "Take a look." she said.

He took the mirror and was surprised at what stared back at him. He had never seen anything like it in his life. "What.. What is that?" he asked reaching as if to actually touch his eye.

"That Kaien, is the Sharingan. A blood line dojustu passed down to you from your biological father." He was curious she could tell. While Sasuke is his father Shikamaru raised him, and she could see his brain working through hundreds of possiblities much like it would in her husband.

"We..." and here she gestured between Shika and herself, "weren't hiding this from you. We planned to tell you when you were sixteen. This is a long story so get comfortable, and I'll leave out some of the more adult scenes from the story as well." She smiled when his face turned a little green.

"Your biological fathers name is Uchiha Sasuke. He was my best friend and teammate along wth your Aunt Sakura. But he was also considered a traitor, a deserter, and was an international war criminal. This is the story of the last few days on his life, and how he gave up everything for his family. And in the end realized that one person's happiness was worth more to him then his life."

* * *

Yes I am aware that I called Naruto a boy. It's supposed to be that way.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok I know I said this was the last chapter. But you see I have these ideas and this outline,but then I start writing and what I feel is going to be not very long turns into something of huge proportions. So I decided to make this second chapter a part a and part b. And this is part a.

Good thing is I have part b in my head and outlined and I'm ready to start writing it as soon as I get this up and posted.

Oh also I know she is telling this to her son. But this story is for you readers. So when you get to the slight lime-ish parts know that those were edited out in her story to him. :)

Sorry for all the grammatical and spelling errors. I was never that great in English class. And since the last time I actually had an English class was over 10 years ago I'm sure you can see why I make mistakes. I've went over this a few different times. But I'm sure there is always something to be missed.

Thanks to those of you who reviewed. I appreciate the kind words. Hope you enjoy this next installment.

*I own nothing!*

* * *

Tsunade walked out onto the balcony surrounding her office. The entire village had come out today to hear the verdict that was given not only by her and the council, but from all the leaders of the shinobi alliance.

Her eyes scanned the crowd until she found the young group of shinobi she knew would take the news the worst. The petite pigtailed blonde girl stared straight back into her eyes. She regretted what she was about to do. _Naruto forgive me._

Slowly she raised her arms and stated in a clear voice. "Citizens of Konoha, we are gathered here today to announce the decision we have come to in regards to the prisoner, Uchiha Sasuke." She took a deep breath. "Uchiha-san has been charged with treason, desertion, attempted murder of the Raikage, attempted murder of Killer B, the assassination of council member and acting Hokage Shimura Danzo, along with several other lesser but not unimportant crimes. As we discussed his criminal actions we took into consideration that he came to help us in the war against Madara and the Juubi. And that had he not shown up with the Edo Tensei of the former Hokage we might not have won the war.

"But after much deliberation I am here to inform you that Uchiha Sasuke will not be pardoned for his crimes, and will be set to public execution in ten days time. You are dismissed." Through the cheers and jeers of the ruling Tsunade couldn't bear to look at her favorite blonde and turned to head back inside.

She had tried to save Sasuke she really had and she knew Naruto would never be able to forgive her for this. But it wasn't just her decision only, and she couldn't override the many votes calling for his head.

* * *

Naruto and the rest of the gang waited patiently for Tsunade to give her speech. Naruto believed it would all work itself out. Everything always did for her, and she had faith this would too.

"...will not be pardoned...be set to public execution..." There was a short choked gasp from Sakura, and a wail from Ino, as Naruto dropped to her hands and knees.

_This isn't real! It isn't real!_

Naruto, suddenly, bolted to her feet and ran as fast as she could to the Hokage's office. The ANBU at the door tried to halt her passage. She kicked and screamed at them to let her go, and yelled for Tsunade-baa-chan over and over.

Ever since the decision was final Tsunade had been preparing for this meeting, and now that it was here she wished she had been killed in the war. Pulling out a bottle of sake she quickly downed it before walking to the doors.

Opening a door she stood and stared at the spectacle before her. Any other time this would have been quite amusing. Her two ANBU guards were trying to get a handle on Naruto. Neko had her lifted in his arms while one of her legs was around his hip. She was biting his ear while gripping Kuma by the hair. Neko was trying to get Naruto to let Kuma go, but everytime he jerked her arm

Kuma let out a strange keening sound.

Tsunade loudly cleared her throat and all three turned to stare at her. "Neko you can let her go, and Naruto release Kuma. Now." Doing as they were told Tsunade motioned for Naruto to follow her.

Once inside the office the elder of the two shut the door and then walked to her desk. "Sit Naruto." She motioned to the chair. "I know you want to yell at me, but I will tell you one thing first. I fought for him. I truly did. But he has caused so much harm and this new peace. This peace we are trying to bring about won't survive if he is left to live."

"But why?" Naruto asked eyes pleading. "Why can't he. We wouldn't be here without him. We all would have died in the war without his help. So why? Why can't they overlook that!"

"Because Naruto," she started, "because he has caused a lot of pain for people. Think Naruto. Orochimaru came back to help too. Should he have been pardoned for his crimes? What about Kabuto? Obito? If we want to move forward. If we want to start new we have to do away with the old. Part of that is letting go. And you need to let Sasuke go. He came to help but what now? What goals does he have now? He's too powerful, and too volatile to be left to his own devices."

"Can I see him?" Naruto asked. "I don't like this I really don't, but I understand what this means for the villages. For the peace. But can I at least see him once. Before... before..." she trailed off not being able to say _he'll be killed_.

"No Naruto. I'm sorry. Sasuke will be permitted one visitor before his execution and while it will be of his choosing I have the final say. And everyone thought it was best that you not see him. We can't trust you to not try to save him. I'm sorry." Tsunade regretted everything about this situation because it was hurting the one person she cared about most in this world right now.

"Excuse me." Naruto rose and walked out the door. The shock of the last hour fully setting in as she walked home. Naruto would probably never remember anything that happened that night. All that would ever come to mind would be she somehow got home and went to bed.

* * *

Day 10

Shikamaru woke up early the next morning. He wanted to speak with Naruto as soon as he could. He was worried about the fact that she hadn't yelled or screamed and just went on like it was any other day. And he knew, like everyone else in the village, that Naruto was a ticking time bomb.

He wanted to get to her first to talk to her. To try to find out what stupid thing she was planning to help the Uchiha. Because she was planning something. Every fiber in his being was screaming at him to make sure she didn't do something disastrous.

So without breakfast he left his house determined to make sure everyone's favorite blonde would be alright.

When he reached her apartment he knocked a few times only to be met with silence. So he knocked and waited. Waited and knocked. Until finally the door was opened.

Naruto stood in a long dark thigh length mens sleeping shirt. Her pigtails were in disarray from not being taken down the night before. She had large dark bags under her eyes. If it wasn't for the fact that he could tell she had actually slept he'd have thought she was awake all night.

"Naruto.." he started. She slammed the door in his face. Knocking once more he said through the door, "Naruto come on. Let me in. Lets talk about this ok?"

Turning the door knob he realized it was unlocked so he let himself in and walked to the living room. She sat there huddled on the couch clutching a pillow to her chest.

"Hey." he said and moved to sit next to her. Placing a hand on her shoulder he added, "Everything will work itself out. It might seem bad now, but everything happens for a reason. You remember how I was when Asuma died, how you were when Jiraiya-sama died. It was hard and troublesome to deal with but everything turned out alright in the end. It'll be fine, you'll see."

She turned to glare at him. "Asuma-sensei and Ero-sennin were murdered by the enemy not our own village. Not sentenced to death by people we love!" She yelled and threw the pillow at him.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. I was supposed to save him." She stood up in front of Shikamaru pacing back and forth. "I was going to bring the Teme home. He was supposed to get married, have kids, restore his clan! That was his dream, Shikamaru. His _dream_!"

She turned to stare into his eyes. "I was going to be the Hokage. Sasuke and Sakura by my side. Sasuke would be my right hand man, he would marry some pretty girl because we all know his ego wouldn't allow him to settle for anything less. Then they'd have beautiful stuck up kids who'd make perfect grades at the academy, become amazing shinobi, and live happy lives. All of them. That was how it was supposed to be. He finished his first dream when he killed Itachi. Even though that didn't go as planned the rest could have. It should have!"

She fell to her knees and wiped furiously at her eyes. She couldn't stop sobbing as she continued. "And now... Now I have to watch him die."

Shikamaru started to interrupt her, but she knew what was coming. "Don't!" she yelled. "Don't tell me I don't have to watch it. I can't do anything for him. I can't save him, and if I can't the least I can do is not hide. I will be there in the front row and watch as someone from our village _beheads_ him."

The brunette slid off the couch in front of Naruto to gather her in his arms. She meant more to him than even she knew. He would be with her through this entire ordeal and however long she allowed him to be afterwards.

"He's going to _die_." she spoke into his shoulder. "Die without ever completing... his... dream." she trailed off at the end. Slowly the blonde lifted herself off the man holding her.

Shikamaru wasn't sure what was going on when she became so still. He gently pushed her shoulders back a bit so he could get a good look at her face. The shocked widening of her eyes startled him. _What is she thinking?_

"Shikamaru? I need you to do me a huge favor." Her eyes finally focusing as she leveled them with his.

"What are you planning?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I won't tell you. Not if you won't agree to help me first."

Sighing he knew he'd regret this, but he figured if he knew what she was planning he might just be able to stop her. "Alright." he consented.

"No!" she yelled. "You have to promise. If not I'll do this on my own."

The look in her eye made him hesitant, but eventually he said, "Ok I promise."

She steeled herself for his oncoming reaction. "I want you to get me in to see him."

Flabbergasted, he sputtered. "W..w.. what?"

"Baa-chan told me Sasuke was allowed one visitor before his death. One of his choosing, but that I wasn't allowed to be that one. They know he won't choose anyone else, but maybe if you ask to see him he might just be curious enough to accept the visitation. They don't.. they don't trust me not to free him." she softly whispered. She shook her head trying to dispel those thoughts away. "I want you to get permission to see him. No matter what you have to get it."

"Why me? How does that help you?" he furrowed his brow.

"Because..." she cleared her dry throat. A pink tongue came out to lick her lips. "Because when you get permission I'm going in your place."

"You can't do that! How are you going to get in there? There will be guards all over the place. Not to mention ANBU headquarters make it so not even a person in a henge could walk through without it being dispelled." he quickly pointed out the flaws in her plan.

"You forget Shika. I am a master at henge. Not only that but with my limited knowledge of fuin henge and Kurama I am positive I can get passed them."

It came as a great shock to everyone that after Naruto had died during the war, the boy everyone knew, turned into a girl. Naruto had explained afterwards that her father, the Yondaime, had put a fuin henge on her to make her appear as a boy at birth. Her death, caused by when Madara ripped the Kyuubi from her, halted the chakra flow to the seal. It instantly dissolved and Naruto was left dead but in her true body.

The shadow user had no doubt that she could pull this off, but what worried him was what she would do once she was inside the prison.

"Once you are inside are you planning on setting him free?" he questioned.

A serene smile spread across her face as her blue eyes moistened. Without any fear or hesitation that he might try to stop her plan she spoke with pure love in her voice, "No, I will ask him to let me bear his child."

Shikamaru had never felt this sudden panic that filled his heart before. This woman, this woman that he cared for, that he _loved_, even if she didn't know it, wanted to have another mans child. Wanted to have a traitors child. Why?

"Why!" he thundered. "Why would you do something like that? Are you in love with him?" He gripped her shoulders and shook her a bit. "Do you not understand how this will look to people. How this could hurt your chances at being Hokage. Hurt your dreams? Why would you do this for _him_? He tried to kill you!"

She glared back at him and spat, "What would you do? What if you were in my position and this was Chouji or Ino. Of course I love him. He's like a brother to me. I don't want to lose him. I can't!" she wanted to break down. She wanted to lay there and just cry until this whole ordeal was over, but she couldn't not if she wanted her plan to work. Sasuke would be dead in nine days. She had nine days left to get in there to convince him to do this and she didn't have the time to argue or explain why to Shikamaru.

"I know I've only been officially known as a female for less than a week. And I know it will be weird to think of me as a woman in that way, but I am. If I can convince him to let me do this for him, for me. Then I can live my life knowing that I did my very best to save a part of him. That maybe in the end he can die with no regrets."

Shikamaru didn't know what to say. "If you love him like a brother why would you want to have his child?"

Her response was simple. "Because Sasuke wouldn't trust anyone else."

* * *

Sighing loudly Shikamaru made his way back to Naruto's apartment. He had spent the last few hours in the Hokage's office trying to get in to see Sasuke. This entire thing was troublesome, and why he agreed to do it he'd never know. A flash of watery blue eyes and pouting full lips crossed to the front of his brain. _Oh yeah. That's why._ He sighed again.

This time he didn't have to wait to get into her apartment. The door was thrown open before he even got in front of the door. The blonde ran out, grabbed his arm, and drug him into her place.

"So how did it go? Did you get permission?" she was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Ah." he replied solemnly. "I am supposed to be at ANBU headquarters tomorrow at noon."

"Tomorrow?" she whined. That'd only give her eight days. "Do you know if I will be allowed to see him more than once?"

"They didn't specify. But if they say anything tell them the condition was one visitor not one visit. So they might let you go once a day until _the_ day." he hoped that'd help her to be able to get in more.

"What are you going to do while I go? We can't have you out wandering around when you're supposed to be with Sasuke."

He shrugged. "It'll be lunchtime. So make me some lunch and I'll come hang out here for a few hours and leave when you get back. It'll be less conspicuous when you leave your apartment as me."

Naruto walked forwards and wrapped her arms around his waist. Leaning up she kissed his cheek. "Thank you for giving me this chance. Stay for dinner?" He never got the chance to respond as she took his hand and walked him to the the table in the kitchen. Not like he'd have said no anyway.

* * *

Day Nine

Sasuke sat against the cold dark wall of his prison. Arms shackled as far apart as they'd go. Black patterns marred his body, keeping his chakra from being accessed. The gray shirt and pants they let his use to stay warm were worn down and ragged. He wasn't allowed his normal attire for fear there would be something he could use to escape.

The sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway before the tingling of keys met his ears. Lifting his head he watched as his guard and the Nara walked into his room.

"Need me to stay?" he questioned.

"No I'll be fine. If I get into any trouble I can just kagemane him and wait for help. I know where the seals are to activate the alarm." Every prison room had a special set of seals that would sound an alarm if a prisoner tried to escape or attack their interrogator. The chains hooked to the wall had a seal that would shoot a highly concentrated electrical current through them as well.

With a nod of his head Tanuki walked out locking the door behind him. The entire floor was empty except for the Uchiha. They didn't want any chances of him somehow escaping. The only way in or out was through the main door at the end of the hallway. Each side of the corridor had three solid doors on either side. This place was warded to the max with seals meant to contain extremely dangerous, high level shinobi.

"What do you want Nara?" drawled the ebony haired man. "I never expected for you to ask to see me."

"Why did you accept then, Uchiha? I actually never thought you'd want to talk to me either."

Sasuke drew a feral grin across his lips. "I'm not blind or stupid Nara. I saw how close you were to Naruto during the war. Wanting to help her, to be someone she'd need once she was Hokage. I can only assume this has to do with her. So I permitted you to come." Rotating his shoulders to get some feeling back into them he added, "So what message do you have from the Dobe?"

He shook his head and laughed. "I am the dobe." The henge fell and Naruto stood there in all her glory. Orange shorts, black jacket and sandals, and calf length blonde pigtails. "Hey Teme." her voice shook as tears gathered in her eyes.

She ran to him, fell to her knees, and threw her arms around his neck. Sasuke buried his nose in her hair. He didn't think he'd actually get to see her before he died. "Why are you here Dobe?" his question was spoken softly because he was afraid someone would overhear and take her away.

"I wanted to see you. This was the only way I could think to get here." she drew back to look at him. Reaching over to where his shackles kept his arms suspended she applied a minute amount of chakra. Just enough to less the tension. All shackles had a seal to make it possible to quickly loosen or tighten them during interrogations.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to let me out?"

It broke her heart to hear that, because she knew she could never free him. She couldn't save him. Not anymore. She shook her head. Sniffled as she replied. "No. I'm sorry I can't."

The look of shock and betrayal was so deeply etched into his face that it shattered something inside. The confusion in his eyes quickly turned to resentment. "If you're not here to set me free then why did you come?" he bit out.

"'Cause setting you free won't ever mean you're actually free. If I let you go I can't ever come home, Sasuke. I can't ever have a life here with my friends, my loved ones. Shikamaru would be in trouble for helping me. And you, you would constantly be on the run. Looking over your shoulder at all times. Tell me, if I let you go and you were found, what would you do to those who would pursue you? Who'd try to arrest you, to bring you back here to face these same charges again. Would you kill them? If you did their deaths would be on my head and I can't do that. You can't ask me to do that!"

"Then why are you here!" he roared.

"I came... I came to ask you for a favor." she sat seiza style in front of him. Her hand placed neatly on her lap. She could take his rage, his anger, his hate. After all she had always been the one closest to him. The only one to truly understand him.

"A favor? You want a _fucking_ favor! Leave! NOW!" and she sat. Sat and waited for him to calm down. He raged. Jerked at his chains and tried all he could to get her to go, belittled her, called her names, but she waited patiently.

She chased him around for over four years. She had always had that calming nature to endure whatever he threw at her. It wouldn't fail her now.

"Are you willing to listen now?" She asked after he started to calm down.

"There is nothing to be said." he responded coldly.

"Then I'll talk and maybe for once in your life you'll realize that what I am about to say is right. That this is the best possible solution to the problem at hand." She stared at him wanted him to look at her, but knowing that he wouldn't, she continued anyway. "I have come to realize there is no way to save you. Even though every part of my body is telling me to help you escape."

"Then do it." he interrupted.

Naruto went on as if he never said anything. "I tried to come up with ways to save you. People I could talk to, to plead with. Ways to get the date of the execution postponed so that I could work this out, but I can't think of anything. Nothing!" Fingers dug into the side of her head.

"I want to save you. I want to see you walk out of here so bad. To be my friend again, my teammate. My brother. I wanted you to be there when I was made Hokage. No one in my mind has ever filled the slot of my second in command better than you. And now look. Look where your revenge and hatred got you." He turned to glare at her, and had his chakra not been sealed she'd have been face to face with the mighty Sharingan.

"I went through many scenarios, things I could do and only one thing kept coming to me. The only way I could save you." she grabbed the sides of his face. Forced him to keep eye contact with her. "Sasuke, let me have your child." she whispered.

He was stunned. He had never expected to hear that come out of Naruto's mouth. Ever. Let's not forget the fact that until about six days ago _she_ had been a _he_. "Excuse me? I don't think I heard you right?

"I said let me have your child." she repeated.

He shoved her as hard and as far as his chains would allow him. "You have some nerve to come in here and ask me that. You want to have my _child_? Has this been your goal the whole time? Well Naruto that is the most underhanded and conniving thing I have ever heard of! Sorry to burst your bubble but I don't _fuck_ he she's. And I wouldn't leave my offspring with you if you were the last woman on this planet!"

Quickly she moved back over to him. "No!" she pleaded. "This isn't what I had planned. You are my brother. I love you like a brother."

"What kind of fucked up vision do you have in your head about how siblings act?" he demanded.

"It's not like that! Jesus Teme, just let me explain. I love you. I have always loved you ever since we were genin. Probably even when we were at the academy, but while I love you I'm not _in_ love with you." She tried to make him understand. To get him to see reason. "Do you not get it Teme. You're going to die. _DIE_! And there is no one in this world that can save you! Not even me!" She started crying again.

When was this all going to be over. When will she stop acting like a crybaby. "But when you're gone that's it. No more Uchiha. They will finally be wiped out. I don't want that!"

A shiver ran down Naruto's spine. Even with his chakra sealed she could feel an immense amount of killing intent rolling off him. _What? What has made him so mad?_

She almost didn't recognize his voice when he spoke. "Ooh. So that's what this is. No more Uchiha, huh? That means no more Sharingan for the village. Well too bad for you and them. Konoha will _NEVER_ have our dojutsu again. Go to hell Uzumaki!" he spat at her.

"This isn't about the Uchiha to me bastard, or the Sharingan!"

"Then what's it about!" he was tired of her. He wanted her to leave, but he knew she wouldn't. Not until she got what she wanted to say out.

She stood when she shouted clenching her fsts at her side. "It's about you, you selfish son of a bitch! It's about my best friend. Someone I love and care for. Someone I have to watch die and know that in the end you will never have completed your second goal. Your ambition." she cried.

He turned from her he didn't want to hear it. "It's about the fact that for the rest of my life I don't want to regret that I didn't try to help you with your last dream. It's about the fact that more than anything I don't want to lose you. I want to have your child so that five, ten, twenty years from now I can look at that child and think, 'Sasuke would have been proud of you. He would have enjoyed watching you live.' To watch that child pull off a katon jutsu and know that you would have done it the same way. To know that you did the one thing you always wanted to do; save your clan from annihilation."

She walked to him and collapsed onto his legs. She hugged him around the neck and whispered into his hair. "I just want for the rest of my life to know that I have a piece of you with me. _Forever._"

He swallowed. His throat became very thick at the end of her speech. He had a lot to think about and not enough time to think it in. But he couldn't do it with her here. She needed to go. "I'll think about it." he said just as quietly as she had last spoken. "But for now you need to go. I'll call for you in a few days. Make sure the Nara knows I don't want him here." She nodded.

Slowly she rose to her feet, restored her fuin henge, tightened his shackles back up, and left.

* * *

Naruto waited patiently in her apartment with Shikamaru the next day. He came over in the morning and stayed until late in the evening. They talked about different things, but they never once approached the subject of what Naruto was trying to do or if Sasuke would agree to it.

Day eight of the countdown came and went without a word from Sasuke.

* * *

Day seven went much the same way as day eight had except that that night after dark had fallen

Shikamaru had been contacted by the Usagi ANBU.

"Tomorrow. Same time. Same place." and then he was gone in a swirl of leaves.

Shikamaru sighed as he laid in his bed. _Can I really let her do this? With the way I feel about her can I let her go to Sasuke knowing what she intends to do?_ Rolling over he clicked off the lamp on the bedside table and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Day Six

The young Nara heir awoke with a heavy heart. He wanted to forget about the summons. He wanted to throw it away and pretend it never came, but he couldn't do that. He couldn't lie to her because he knew if he ever wanted to be with her, to love her and be loved by her he needed to let her do this.

If Sasuke said yes then she would be having sex with Sasuke today, and tomorrow, and probably the next few days. He knew she'd try as much and as often as she could until the end. Statistically the more often they tried the greater chances of her getting pregnant.

If she failed to become with child then he knew she'd be sad, but that she wouldn't regret not trying. That she wouldn't spend the rest of her life wondering what if I'd asked.

If she conceived, then Sasuke's child would forever be in her life. Another mans child would always be with her. While that bothered him he felt that for her, for Naruto, he could live with that. He could accept another mans child if it was hers.

But the most important thing that he had to remember was that if he loved her as much as he felt he did he had to let her do this. Because if he tried to stop her or told someone then she would never forgive him and he would lose her forever. And that was the worst outcome of any of the scenarios he could come up with.

* * *

Naruto sat, legs folded leaning against the door. Sasuke sat across from her staring at the wall. The blonde waited on the Uchiha to start the conversation. She didn't want to say something that might jinx the whole thing.

"I..." Naruto looked towards Sasuke. He froze at the sight of her. He never thought in a million years he'd agree to have sex with the dobe. Not just have sex, but to do it with the goal of creating another living being in mind.

"If I agree to this. What do you plan on doing with him... her... uh, it?" God, he sounded like a moron.

She cocked her head to the side. "I hadn't really thought about that far. Raise it. Love it. I definitely wouldn't tell anyone you're the father." He narrowed his eyes. "No! Not like that. I just..." she sighed. "I understand why I was never told about my parents or anyone being told who they were. It wouldn't have been safe for me if anyone knew. I don't want people's prejudices against you to affect the way our baby will grow up. I'll protect this child, Sasuke. With every beat of my heart I promise you that, and you know what my promises mean." she moved to stretch her cramped legs out from under her.

"When our son or daughter is old enough to understand with a rational, adult mind I will explain everything. All of this. And, I will spend the rest of its life telling it what I know of your family, and _everything_ I know about you. The real truth about Itachi that the council doesn't want to let slip. The real truth about you, because you know the story will be spun and sullied over the years. I will tell our baby everything I can and as many times as it wants to hear it." she smiled softly at him. "When the child is old enough I won't_ ever_ let it forget who you once were. I will try my best to make you real. As if you had been there its whole life."

He absorbed everything that she had said, and he knew without a doubt that she meant every word of it. He was right. He had spent all this time thinking over his decision, and even though he had agreed to it in his head already, everything she was saying now further solidified in his brain that he was making the right choice. That he could leave a child in this world if he left it with her.

But there was still one more thing he wanted to know about, that he needed to hear. "And in the future when you find someone else? Some man that you will come to love, be _in_ love with. Want to create a family with. What of my child then? What would you do if he didn't like it? If you had another child by this man what would you do then?"

She laughed. For the first time since this whole ordeal started she laughed. "Teme, if you obviously believe that I would abandon my first born for a man and a different family, you don't know me as well as I thought you did. Any man I eventually date or marry or _continue _our family with will be a man who will love and care for this child as his own. If he can't then he isn't the man I thought he was and doesn't deserve to be with us. To expand _our_ family further. Because Teme it's you and me. We have always been the only family we've ever had since we were children. This child would be the growth of our family, and anyone who wants to be part of that family has to accept everyone. No ifs, ands, or buts about it." Her smile was one of the brightest he had ever seen come from her, whether as a boy or girl.

She was so sure that everything would work out this way. This was Naruto's optimistic view on life. Sasuke found himself enjoying this idea. _Yeah. This might not be such a bad idea_. "Alright." he said out loud with a firm nod of his head.

* * *

Naruto slowly crawled towards Sasuke. She wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do. The seals on his chains had been loosened as soon as the guard left. Arms held straight out to the side for days got quite painful. She hated to see him hurting even if he tried not to show it.

The blonde looked at her best friend and gave a nervous chuckle. "So.. um.. yeah. How should we…? Do you wanna..? ...help?" she squeaked.

Leave it to the dobe to make an awkward situation worse. "Just take off your clothes, Naruto." and she did.

Slowly her trembling hands came up to unzip her ever present jacket. She pulled her arms out one by one. The the orange shirt was grasped at the bottom hem before being pulled up and over. Her long golden pigtails trailed from the neck hole. Rising up on her knees she fiddled with the button on her black shorts before she pulled them off and turned to look at Sasuke.

The whole time she had been removing her clothes he sat and watched as she revealed her sunkissed skin bit by bit. It had never occurred to him before that Naruto's tan skin wasn't from hours of being under the sun. With no visible tan lines to be seen he found out it was just her natural coloring.

"Really, Dobe? Lacey and black?" he smirked at the undergarments she left herself in.

Turning her eyes to him she gave a horrified look, "Sakura and Ino, Teme. That's all I have to say." and he knew what she meant. It would make sense that after they found out she was actually a woman that they would take her out and have her buy what they considered essential feminine clothes. Had it been left up to Naruto she'd still be wearing all her clothes from when she was a boy.

Clearing his throat he nodded at her. "The last of it." Nervously she reached behind to unhook her bra. Her eyes were trained on the left side of the room. When it came undone she stopped, took a moment, then sighed, and slid the straps off her shoulders to removed it completely.

Leaning back on her elbows she grabbed her panties by the sides, lifted her hips, and slid them up her thighs, over the knees, and let them fall to her feet. She pulled them off her feet then placed them with the rest of her clothes. Feeling shy she quickly pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Sasuke was stunned as he watched the show. He had never considered himself a pervert, but he could admit that he liked watching her undress. But it was Naruto, and even though most of his memories of her was as a boy, he still knew that the blonde was the only person ever to make him feel. Sure he loved his family, and he had loved Itachi, but Naruto was different. She made him feel _everything_ even when he didn't want to. She could bring emotion out of him like no one else in this world, and right now he felt sadness and regret jump to the front.

Looking at her he realized that she was really beautiful. Probably one of the most visually pleasing woman he'd ever laid eyes on. And he felt that had he chosen his life differently, stayed in the village, maybe, just maybe she could have fallen for him. That this pretext of loving, but not being in love with him, could have been able to develop into a true deep passionate love.

He regretted not being able to have the chance to see if they could have been something more. What they could have become. What a child of him and her would look like, and if they would have had others.

But such thoughts were worthless now. Now it was time for him to give to her. Give her something of him, because she had _always_ given him all of her.

"Lay back." he told her softly. Not wanting to make her even more nervous than she already was. She hesitated a few seconds before scooting closer to him and laying out in front of him. With the chains on he couldn't remove his shirt, so he just sat up on his knees and released the button and lowed his pants. The chains wouldn't allow him to move very far so she reached under her thighs to grab ahold and pull her closer. The startled eep from her made him chuckle.

Knowing that saying anything would just make her more nervous he went right into. While having never done this before, being too busy trying to get strong enough to kill his brother and everything, he did at least know the basics.

Leaning down he slowly ran his tongue over her folds. She gasped and tried to move back. "T..t..teme!" she stuttered. "You don't.. you know.. have to do… uh… that." she finished, embarrassed.

He rose enough to look into her eyes as he slid a finger inside. "You've never had sex before, Dobe." he slowly withdrew before sliding it back in, repeating the process. "I do remember that it's not that pleasurable for a woman during her first time. If I am going to do this I'm going to do it right."

She didn't say anymore, and after a few minutes he added a second. Scissoring her in small little gapes, making it wider and wider with each pass. When he was satisfied that she was stretched and wet enough he moved into position.

With one last look into her eyes and the soft smile and nod from her he gently pushed inside.

* * *

The next several days that lead to his execution went pretty much the same. Naruto would go to the ANBU headquarters disguised as Shikamaru. She'd spend the new few hours being with Sasuke then head back to her apartment where Shikamaru would be waiting.

She never knew exactly what it was, but the blonde could tell that there was something Shikamaru wasn't saying to her. He never asked what went on when she was with Sasuke, having a vague idea anyway. Sometimes he would leave as soon as she got back. Other times he'd wait for her to change clothes and they'd sit and talk.

They had never really been friends as children. Most of their interacting in the academy came from the same need to avoid the teachers from failing to do class work. But ever since Asuma and Jiraya's death they had grown closer. Two comrades sharing the heartbreak of losing the sensei they loved.

The time spent from then on had really opened his eyes to just who Naruto was. Everyone knew he was a loud mouth and was often really annoying, but Shikamaru learned that most of that was just his way of keeping people at bay.

It was quite obvious that after her seal broke that she had always known she was a girl. Making up a fake love for Sakura to help hide the fact that she liked boys being one big role she had made for her boy self.

Immediately after the seal was gone she changed her personality to fit her new body almost like she flipped a switch. Naruto had always known who she was, and had a mask she made for the boy she pretended to be. .

Naruto was quite intelligent, and a fast thinker. She could make up strategies even faster than he could. The only difference between their genius being he fully thought through his scenarios with all possible conclusions. Naruto just thought them up and winged it. And while he could come up with hundreds at a time, she usually only needed the one. One scenario and it would work. The only time he had even seen one of hers fail was those involving Sasuke. Sasuke seemed to always, without thinking, foil her plans.

But Shikamaru knew something that nobody else did. Something Naruto only thought Kakashi knew. A secret he has kept since the tender age of four.

* * *

Naruto lay on her back panting on the cold stone floors. Sasuke's arm draped across her stomach as he pressed his forehead to the ground to calm his overheated body. This would be their last time together.

Naruto showed up at the ANBU building at eight that morning, wanting to try one more time before the afternoon came. Sasuke would die never knowing if they had created a child or not. A part of her would always feel bad that he would never know.

Grunting he pulled himself out of her. She sighed from the release of her tensed muscles. Laying there she watched as he rose to fix his clothes. She didn't want to move. She knew that when she walked out of that door this would be the last time they were ever together. And not just in a sexual way. But as the dobe and the teme. As Naruto and Sasuke.

Tears started to gather in her eyes. "Don't start, Dobe." Sasuke said. His voice wasn't harsh or anything he just didn't want to see her cry. Not because of him. Not this time.

Naruto mechanically went through the motions of getting dressed. Once she was finished she sat in front of him. "I guess this is it." her voice trembled.

"Hn."

"I'm sorry." she whispered. His questioning look made her continue. "For not being sure if this worked or not. For not being able to tell you for sure whether or not…" she waved her hand at her stomach.

"It's alright." he smiled, not a huge one but probably the only one Naruto had ever seen from the young man. "When I die today I will go believing that you are carrying my child. Because when you set your mind to something when have you ever failed?"

"Every time it involved you."

"No, Dobe. I realized a lot of things during the war. Itachi left a big hole in my life and wanted me to fill it with hatred. I tried I really did. I wanted to kill you so many times, but it wasn't because I hated you. It was because you made me want to forget. Made me want to leave Itachi to the ANBU and just be happy being friends with you. The Mangekyou is achieved by killing your closest friend. I had so many opportunities to gain it, to kill you, and yet I never could. No matter how often I tried to tell myself, 'Do it' I couldn't. I chalked it up as not wanting to do it the way Itachi wanted me to. But really there was just something about our rivalry that I didn't want to lose." he leaned forward to drag her into his arms.

Setting his head on top of hers he continued. "In the end I chose to help in the war because I thought maybe Itachi was right. Maybe you were right. That having a place to go home to, friends to share your life with wasn't such a bad thing. Konoha did what it had to to protect the whole of the village. Had it not been the Uchiha, had it been the Hyuuga instead how would I have felt about the whole thing. And I realized that it made sense. The council had to protect the village. Itachi loved the village, but he loved me more and because of that I was left in his place to protect it."

He splayed his hand over her flat stomach. "So I will do as my Nii-san did, and I will leave this child here to protect you and this village."

She buried her face into his chest and sobbed. She didn't want to lose him. Especially like this.

After a few minutes of the holding each other he pushed her back, threaded his right hand in her hair and placed his left on her stomach. As he stared into her eyes he pressed their foreheads together and spoke a condensed version of one phrase that meant the most to him. "You don't ever have to forgive me, but from here on out, know that I will love you always." With that he pushed her towards the door and told her to leave. He had said all he needed to.

She put on her henge, walked back to fix the seals, and headed to the door. She hit the seal that signaled to the guard she was ready to leave. As the keys scraped into the lock she whispered, "And I will always love you." Then walked out the door.

* * *

Shikamaru waited at the small set of stairs leading up to the makeshift platform in the center of the village. The Usagi ANBU had informed him minutes before that the prisoner had wanted to speak with him one last time. He had debated on if he should tell Naruto or not, but since it was a public place he knew they couldn't switch. The Uchiha wanted to speak with him.

Sasuke's arms had been bound behind his back. Forearms crossed so his hands couldn't make seals. His legs were chained but even still he walked towards his death with an air of dignity his surname provided him with.

The guards moved him till he stood in front of the Nara heir. Waiting for him to say what it was he needed to say. Sasuke took a few steps forwards until their left shoulders touched. Leaning into his ear he whispered his final words. "We were never friends, barely even acquaintances, but I know you love her. You wouldn't have put your life and career at risk if you didn't. I have one favor to ask even though I know you don't owe me anything. Protect her, and my child. I don't know much about girls, but if it's a boy I like the name Kaien." and with that he walked past him and up the stairs to kneel in the middle.

Shikamaru quickly got over his shock and hurried to Naruto's side. All of the kids from their year stood in the front. It's like Naruto had said. They couldn't save him from himself, so they would do the only thing they could for him. Watch their classmate till the end.

The Hokage stood to the left side of the platform. "Uchiha Sasuke, while you have been pronounced guilty of quite a few crimes, you are specifically here today for the charges of treason, desertion, attempted murder, first degree murder, and consorting with a known felon. As is custom when bringing home a rogue nin you are to be beheaded and your eyes are to be confiscated and destroyed upon death. Do you have any last words?"

He never lifted his head, but his eyes strayed to Naruto's. With no forthcoming response Tsunade motioned to the executioner. An inu masked ANBU walked forward and stood at Sasuke's left. Drawing Kusanagi he held the sword above the back of his neck.

The crowd was in an uproar. There was a yell of, "Kill the traitor!" Before the crowd just stuck to chanting, "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"

"They're going to do this with his own sword? Man, that just ain't right." Kiba commented.

With a nod from the Hokage Inu drew back quickly before slicing through the neck. The head fell forward.

Through the cheers everyone could hear the loud excruciating wail of one Uzumaki Naruto. Shikamaru grabbed her as her legs fell out from under her. He fell with her and held her through her hysterical screams.

The crowd had fallen silent. While most were cheering at the traitors death, the heartbreaking sight of their heroine violently shaking and clutching Shikamaru as she loudly cried her heart out ruined it for them. They couldn't cheer and be merry in the face of her despair.

So they left. One by one as she sat there and cried. The only ones to stay were her classmates and sensei. No one knows for sure how long they stood there and mourned. Ino and Sakura were the worst after Naruto. Hinata wept quietly from in between Kiba and Shino. And the men while saddened comforted the females of their group as best they could.

Naruto eventually cried herself to sleep in Shikamaru's arms. He brushed her hair from her eyes and tried to wipe off the tears as best he could. Without a word to anyone he carefully gathered her into his arms and stood to leave. Everyone else got the silent message and headed home. Some went home alone, others together.

Shikamaru took one last look at the platform before walking towards it. The blood was so abundant that even though the area was level it spilled over the side. Wiping a few fingers through the sticky redness he clenched his fingers tightly.

"You have my word."

* * *

And this is where I decided to split it. felt like it was a good place to end the Sasuke portion with Sasuke. The next chapter will focus more on Shikamaru and conclude there. See you in chapter three!


	3. Chapter 3

Ah! Sorry it took so long to finish. I tried to have this chapter finished before I went on vacation last month. Then I was gone for a week and came, back to my husband starting school, and getting my daughter ready to start Pre-k. Then I was lost of where I was and had to read all of chapter 3 again, and realized that I hated most of the 8,500 words I wrote. So I went through and fleshed out those 8,500 and turned it into 13,500 words. That was a pain. Then I had a few roadblocks in certain parts of the story. Honestly you'll probably find those parts because I believe they aren't as good as some of the rest of this. But oh well. I wrote and just let the words flowed and now the entire chapter turned into a little over 23,000 words. Yeah wow! As usual my outline I thought was going to be around the 8,000 or so that chapter 2 was. Yeah, no! lol. But that means more for you to read!

As usual there are going to be grammatical errors, and poor sentence structures. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the last chapter of The Right to be Born.

*I own nothing*

* * *

Naruto spent the next two weeks in a daze. Shikamaru didn't know what to do to help her. He came over everyday to take care of her. He'd wake her in the morning and let her run on a cycle. Wake, eat, sleep, wake, eat, sleep. A shower here and there. He was really worried about the girls state of mind, but he would do whatever he could to make sure she survived this depression.

That all changed by the third week. Shikamaru had come over as usual, and was getting lunch ready. When the simple dish was done he called for her to come eat. Mechanically rising off the couch she walked towards her kitchen only to trip on the rug in the living room. She slammed hard into the bookshelf along the wall before sliding to the floor.

Her weapons pouch, that had been laid on it at some point, came open and a kunai fell out. The single sharp knife headed straight for her stomach. Shikamaru rushed from the table as soon as he saw her fall and made it just in time to catch the kunai before it could land imbedded in her lower abdomen.

Both wore shocked expressions. Never in her life had Naruto believed something like that could happen. It was that incident that made her realize she couldn't just go through the motions of life. If she was pregnant this wouldn't help the baby. She could get it killed this way, and she almost had.

Naruto reached up to Shikamaru and hugged him, "Thank you." she whispered. When she drew back she looked him in the eyes for the first time in weeks. She smiled at him, and he knew she would be alright now.

She would because she knew Sasuke had entrusted his life to her in the form of a child. And she wouldn't let him down. Not now, not ever.

* * *

"So what's up with you and Naruto?" Ino asked.

Team Ten met every other Thursday for lunch at the Yakiniku Q. If one member was out on a mission that day the other two still made it a habit to go. The only time they didn't was if only one of them was in the village at a time.

"I'm not sure what you mean." he drawled. His finger was itching to grab a cigarette, but Naruto had banned him from smoking. Ever since the accident Naruto had been acting as if she was pregnant. _Power of the mind,_ she had said. _Believe I am pregnant and I will be._ So that meant no more cigarettes.

"Yeah Shikamaru. You have been with her an awful lot since the war ended." Choji added.

He shrugged not willing to divulge any information.

"Come on." Ino whined. "You can't tell me that all this time you two have been together in her apartment _alone_ nothing has happened."

He sighed. Ino was so troublesome. She'd make him stay there for hours bugging to get her answers if he didn't say something. So he decided to give a response to shut her up. "She's just needed some help. You know dealing with the Sasuke issue. It's been a little over a month and no one has been by to visit or check up on her. I'm just making sure she's ok. That's all."

Choji frowned. "No one? Not even Sakura?"

"No one."

Ino squirmed in her seat and looked at Choji. He looked as guilty as, she knew, she probably did at that moment. Ino had had a lot to think about after Sasuke's death. What she wanted in life. Who she wanted to spend it with. The group had once decided that Sasuke needed to die, and that if anyone was going to do it it would be one of them. She had had time then to think about what his death would mean. Granted him dying this way wasn't what she had expected, but she knew that after the shock of it wore off she would be alright. She'd move on with her life and find someone to share it with eventually. But seeing Naruto's reaction. Watching the agony on her friends face had made her realize that she had never loved Sasuke, or anyone for that matter, the way that Naruto had. She hadn't known what to say to the girl so she avoided her instead.

Choji's thoughts were similar to not knowing how to act around the blonde after her emotional breakdown in the village square. Naruto had always been very expressive, but never with her sorrow and pain. The amount of anguish she showed that day bothered him. He didn't know how to broach the topic with her, or any topic really.

As far as they knew everyone kind of felt the same. Not really knowing how to deal with that kind of Naruto. Ino had thought that Sakura would at least go, being her teammate and all. Most decided unspokenly to let Shikamaru handle it. He had been doing fine that day and the days leading to Sasuke's demise.

Then there was the fact that Shika was the only one to speak to the Uchiha in all that time. They all just assumed that maybe, maybe Sasuke had told him to look after Naruto and that that was what the shadow user had been doing.

"I just don't know-" Ino started to explain herself, but was interrupted by a squealing blonde mass hurling itself at Shikamaru. Said mass wrapped tanned arms around his neck to keep from falling off. The brunette had instinctively wrapped his own arms around her back to steady her.

"It's true!" she beamed. "It's really true."

Ino and Choji didn't know what to say. They looked at each other from across the table and blinked. They had thought Naruto would still be heartbroken and mourning. Not running to sit in Shikamaru's lap and laughing.

"You sure?" He asked. She nodded her head violently. "I gotta go. See ya later." He stood with her still in his arm. Her legs, that had been clenched at his sides, slid down till she was on her own feet. Naruto smoothed down the skirt of her sundress as he threw down some money, grabbed her hand, and walked them out the door.

"What the hell was that?" Choji and Ino questioned at the same time.

* * *

They got back to her apartment in record time. "Now, once again, you are sure you're pregnant?" he questioned from his spot on the couch.

Rolling her eyes she walked to the bathroom, and came back holding a little stick. "Plus sign means pregnant. It's faint, but it's there." she said.

"How can you be sure? It sort of looks like one, but that isn't much of a line." he turned her hand in a few different directions trying to get a better perspective of it.

"Because I have three more in there that all look the same, and look it's still getting darker. I think. Plus, Kurama said so as well. I'm pregnant Shika." she sat on his lap and hugged him. "Thank you. This wouldn't have happened if you didn't help us. Thank you!" she cried.

He hugged her back. This was great. In that moment he knew he wanted nothing more than to be right where he was. Holding the woman he loved while she celebrated the fact that she was with his child. Oh, he knew this was Sasuke's child, but he really didn't care. He was the one who would be there with her through all of this. The one that would experience her pregnancy, who would be there to protect her and the baby. The Uchiha wasn't in the picture to mess anything up between them. So he could raise this child, treat it as his own, as his blood. The only problem he had now was, how did he get the woman in his arms to return his feelings, and let him be a part of her family.

* * *

Naruto knew she couldn't spend all her time in her apartment so she recently started going out by herself again. Shikamaru would come over most days and sit and chat with her until all hours of the night. Sometimes they'd go on walks, others they'd go out to eat. She was very grateful for his company. Most avoided having anything to with her right now, and she couldn't have asked for a better friend.

Knowing that she needed to speak with Tsunade-baa-chan for multiple reasons she got up that morning and got ready for the day. She wrote a little note to Shika and placed it on the table before she left the apartment. _Going to see baa-chan. Should be back before lunch. Feel free to stay, Naru. _It had said.

Ever since he had agreed to help her see Sasuke she made sure he had a key to get in. That small metal object had been a blessing in disguise. If it hadn't been for him in those weeks after the execution, during the accident with the kunai, who knows what might have happened to this child. For the rest of her life she knew Shikamaru would always hold a special place in her heart for all he had done for them.

She smiled as she rubbed her belly. _We have a lot to thank Shika for don't we baby? We should really find something good for him._ She chuckled to herself.

The walk through the village was quite pleasant. While it was the beginning of December, Konoha rarely saw any snow, and if they did it was usually very mild and after the first of the year. Still there was a slight chill to the air, so Naruto pulled her hood up over her head.

Walking through the marketplace she saw several familiar faces. None came to talk to her, but they did give small waves and head nods in her direction. Naruto knew they were probably curious about her attitude. She should be sad, and she was, but she knew Sasuke wouldn't want her to mourn forever. He was probably pissed at how bad she was in the beginning. But the teme had entrusted this tiny life to her, and she wouldn't fail it or him. So no more wallowing in grief. Uzumaki Naruto was starting anew! Because this child only deserved happiness, and that's what she was gonna give it.

* * *

Without knocking Naruto walked straight into the Hokage's office. Noticing she was having a meeting with the two council elders she stopped. "Ah, sorry. Didn't think anyone would be here." She bowed and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute, gaki." The elder blonde waved her forward while signing some documents. "Good timing we were just about to send for you."

Walking forward Naruto nodded at the two councilman. Mitokado Homura stood from his chair and moved over one. That would put her sitting between him and Utatane Koharu. Naruto had to stop from shivering as she took her seat. While they have never been rude to her face to face, she had a feeling that neither of them liked her very much.

"What do ya need, Baa-chan?" She inquired while picking at a small hole in her jeans.

Ignoring the elders presence Tsunade eyes softened. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you in a while. Everything has been so hectic since the war. Since before the war really. We are still working on rebuilding parts of the village, and with working out all these peace treaties between the villages I barely have time to sleep most days." Naruto nodded she understood Tsunade was busy. "When I get a chance I'd like to spend some time with you. To talk about everything." she smiled.

"Ah, I'd like that too." she smiled back. "So, what did you want to summon me for?"

Linking her fingers Tsunade rested her chin on hands. "Answer this question for me first. Are you dating anybody? Shikamaru maybe?"

"Eh? No. Why would you think that?" she replied innocently.

Tsunade sighed the girl sure was oblivious. Even she could see the way the boy looked at her. "Alright then. What I am about to tell you you might find hard to believe and understand, but hear me out, okay? We have a huge dilemma on our hands, and while you don't have to say yes to any of this, you can't exactly say no either." She rubbed her temples, explaining this was going to give her a headache.

"Huh? I don't get it." The pigtailed girl scratched the back of her head.

"Ever since you became a genin and started doing missions, before you came back from your trip with Jiraiya, we had gotten several letters from some former clients of yours. The ones we're about to discuss were the ones looking for the prospect of a marriage contract with you."

"WHAT! I can't do that!" she shouted.

With a disapproving glare aimed at the blonde Tsunade continued. "Let me finish before interrupting me next time. Now, because I had not known you were a girl, and because we didn't want to hurt potential business offers, we kindly replied to them that even though you were a genin you were still a ward of the village, and anything to do with marriage would not be bothered with. We made it clear that as soon as you turned sixteen though they would be free to send in their requests again, and then they would be discussed with you."

Naruto opened her mouth to speak, but a deceptively young hand halted her. "Since the end of the war we have gotten quite a few resubmissions. All letters were of course sent back with our apologies that we hadn't know that you were female, and that such marriage endeavors would not be pursued."

_Good_. Naruto thought with a nod of her head. However, Tsunade's next sentence ended her happy thoughts.

"While some of those requests had come from woman, offering themselves, that didn't stop some of the males that were trying to marry their daughters, granddaughters, etc. off to you. Those same men are now throwing out their sons, grandsons, or whatever male relative they have. So, not only do we have that, this situation has evolved into a much bigger problem."

Tsunade paused to take a sip from the cup of water on her desk. _Damn Shizune for stealing my sake._ "Now that the war is over and we are moving towards peace many high ranking officials are offering up men from their villages to seek your hand in marriage as well."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "What? Why would they do that?"

"It's hard to explain Naruto, but I will try my best. Men marrying is different than women marrying. When a man marries his wife will take on his name, and bear him children to continue his family lineage. When a woman marries she leaves her family behind. Now, I'm not saying she isn't allowed to see her family or anything like that, but she and her children will no longer belong to her former family name. Sure this isn't always the case." Tsunade tapped her chin.

"Ino for example. She is her clan heir, so when she finds a man to marry he will be marrying into her family and taking on the Yamanaka name. But here is where it gets complicated. If she married, hmmm, let's say... Kakashi-"

"Sensei!" Naruto interrupted.

"Yes shush. This is hypothetical. If she married Kakashi she would take on his name since he is the last of a well respected clan. She would then be expected to birth a child not only to take on the Hatake clan name, but an heir for the Yamanaka as well."

"Well that's not fair." The blonde mumbled.

"Sakura, as another example, isn't from a well known clan. She will marry, take on her husbands name, and bear him children. That's it. She doesn't have to pass on the Haruno name unless she wants to. You, though, are a little more complicated." Naruto snorted at that.

"Before the war you could have turned down any of these proposals with no harm, even if you had been a girl then. Now, though…" she thought how to phrase it, "Now, though you have to at least try."

"Like hell I do!" She stood ready to leave.

"Sit down, and let me finish would you?" Yeah she definitely had a headache forming. "Since the war a few things have changed about your situation. You are no longer a boy, Naruto. It sucks but being a girl makes this harder to deal with. I won't lie to you. Most of these men don't care about you. You are the Yondaime's daughter. The last of the Uzumaki clan that we know of. The hero of the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Jinchuriki of all nine Biju. And the next candidate to be Hokage. That's a lot of power in one woman.

"Remember, as I said earlier a man marries a woman into _his_ family. Households are often paid dowries when a daughter marries out of the family. Her original family gets something from the marriage although usually it's not much. Had you stayed a boy her family would have gained some prominency from her marrying you. The bragging rights that their daughter married the Yondaime's child, the last Uzumaki, yadda yadda yadda." She waved her hand about. "But ultimately all that power stays with you in your clan, and wouldn't mean that much to her original family."

"But as a woman you will marry into their clan. Men want that. All that power you have, all that prestige that is now associated with the name Uzumaki Naruto would belong to them. They will be expecting you to bear strong heirs for their clans. In short, most of these men want you as breeding stock."

"Tsunade-sama!" Koharu hissed at her. "You shouldn't scare the poor girl with this nonsense."

"She should be scared. I would bet that ninety five percent of these men in these lists she hasn't even talked to. She needs to know what to expect from this. We, as her elders, should make sure that she is as informed about this as possible. While I understand there are probably a few in here that care about her and her well being, most just want the reputation of having her in their clans, in their beds, and you damn well know that." she berated the older lady.

Turning back to Naruto she went on. "I want you to at least look through the prospects, and pick out one or two from each main village. To choose one village over the others would seem like favoritism. You don't ever have to say yes to any marriage, but you at least have to make an attempt at this. To down right deny them could hurt how our negotiations go. So, find a few, go on a few dates with them, and turn them down if you feel that's right. But, look on the brightside, you never know you might actually find someone you like." she finished. She knew this was a terrible thing to ask of the girl, but it had to be done.

"No." the young woman stated firmly.

Tsunade grunted in frustration. "Listen, gaki I just told you you couldn't say no."

Naruto shook her head. "I can't, I _won't."_ she ground out.

"Give me one good reason why you can't flirt with a couple of guys for a few days, and then dump them?" she demanded.

"I'm pregnant."

Three sets of eyes blinked at her. "I'm sorry. I think I'm hallucinating. You're what?" The Godaime asked rather calmly.

"I'm pregnant." the young blonde stated again. "It's one of the reasons I came to talk to you today."

Slamming her hands on the desk Tsunade stood to yell at her. "What the hell do you mean you're pregnant. Who's the father?" _I'll kill whoever it was that touched my gaki._ she thought violently.

"It doesn't matter." she said. "But I won't be doing any of this…" she waved her hand at the pile of papers, "... dating stuff you want."

"Abort it." Koharu hissed at her.

"Excuse me?" Naruto's voice was eerily calm. Tsunade looked between the young girl and the elder. Not sure what the hell was going to happen, but knowing that that tone of voice from Naruto wasn't good. The Godaime started to panic when she saw red seeping in from the corner of her eyes.

"I said abort it." The jinchuuriki raged and lunged at the elderly woman. Tsunade barely jumped her desk in time to restrain her.

"Go fuck yourself, you old bitch!" she screamed from inside Tsunade's hold.

"Koharu, is right Naruto. Carrying a bastard child will make it harder to find you a suitable husband. One that will bring a prosperous union to Konoha." Homura finally spoke.

"Bastard child? BASTARD CHILD! My child is no bastard you shit faced Jiji. How dare you talk about my baby that way." The Godaime nearly lost hold of her. She didn't want to squeeze her too hard and hurt the growing embryo, but she managed to drag Naruto to the office doors.

"Naruto, calm down." she said. "Calm down for now. Go home. I'll meet you tomorrow at the hospital at one. We'll check over everything then. Make sure you and the baby are alright. Okay?" Not getting an answer and having her still struggling to get to the elders Tsunade shook her. "Naruto! You have to calm down. Your chakra is spiking, and while a little bit of use is ok, high levels like this can damage the embryo. So you need to stop before you hurt the baby."

That calmed the young girl enough to stop struggling. Naruto closed her eyes and took a deep breath to get her and the Biju's chakra under control. _Calm down, calm down. The baby needs us to calm down to protect it._ In and out she breathed several times. When she opened her eyes again they were her normal deep sapphire blue.

Tsunade opened the doors and gently put her down outside them. "Tomorrow at one, okay?" she asked quietly.

Naruto nodded to show her acknowledgement. To the elders she had one last thing to say though. Turning to them, she pinned them with Kyuubi red-slitted eyes. "Either of you come near me and my baby, and I'll kill you. _That's_ a promise." Then she turned and stalked out of the building.

Sighing, Tsunade closed the door, wishing she had something stronger to drink than the water in her cup.

* * *

When Naruto got home she slammed the door and stalked to the kitchen. Jerking a cabinet door open she grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Gulping it down she mumbled to herself. "Stupid old hag. She can go to hell." She tightened her grip on the cup and it shattered in her hand. "Shit!" she cursed.

Before she could even start to examine herself a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist shoving it under the still running water. "Eh?" She turned her head to come nose to nose with Shikamaru. The close contact made the blonde blush and quickly turn back to her hand. Normally he stood over a head taller than her, but when he leaned over her shoulder to look at her hand it brought their faces quite close.

"You need to be more careful." The Nara advised, the words sliding smoothly as if meant to be spoken right into her ear. He never noticed her shiver from the sound of his voice as he pulled her hand out of the water and to his face to examine. Smoothing his thumb over the palm he noticed it was already healed. _Being a Jinchuriki has some perks._

"Yeah I know." Naruto refused to meet his eyes. "I was just so pissed off." And with those words her rage from before came rushing back. _Calm down. Calm down._

Shikamaru used the hand he was holding to pull her back into the living room and onto the couch facing him. Keeping hold of the hand he continued to rub soothing circles over the palm. "Tell me what's wrong. Was Tsunade-sama's reaction that bad?"

"No." she replied. "Koharu and Homura were there. Baa-chan said she was about to summon me when I arrived." Her fingers tightened around his hand causing him to wince. "Sorry. This is just… Argh this whole thing pisses me off."

Sighing, she readjusted herself so they were sitting side by side, his arm around her shoulders, her head leaning against him, right hand still holding his. "I guess since people know who my dad is now, and because of everything I did during the war, and now that everyone also knows I'm a girl, I'm highly prized marriage material." she finished in a faux pretentious tone of voice.

Shikamaru tensed at that. _Shit. Now I also have to fight off others as well._

Naruto patted his leg. "Don't worry." She smiled up at him. "No one is taking you best pal, Naruto away." She said not understanding the real reason for his reaction. "I told them I wouldn't do it. Then Baa-chan yelled at me and told me to give her a good reason. So, that's when I told her I was pregnant. Not really how I wanted to tell her, but.." she shrugged.

"That doesn't explain why you were so mad though." he pushed.

"The old bitch told me to abort the baby and then that old asshat called my baby a bastard." She gripped his hand tightly in hers and his gripped back just as tightly. _Over my dead body._ he thought. "Said I'd never find a suitable husband to make Konoha more prosperous with a child. As if I care about that. I will do whatever I can for this village, but I will not let anyone choose my husband or family for me. The people of this village have taken many things from me already. I won't let this be another one."

Shikamaru pulled her closer and rested his chin on her head. "I won't let it happen either. It's a good thing most of your best friends are to be the next leaders of their respective clans. They won't let the council do something like that either. We will do what we can to protect you from them, just as you have always protected us."

"I know. Thank you." she whispered. Sitting up she looked him in the eye. "Now, how about that lunch I promised you?"

* * *

Shikamaru walked Naruto to her appointment the next day. They had discussed over lunch the previous day that they'd go together. He'd run a few errands and meet her at the steps leading to the entrance of the hospital. Then they'd head home and Naruto would make them dinner.

They got to the entrance and swiftly parted ways. Naruto made her way through the lobby to the front desk. After asking about the Hokage's whereabouts she was lead into a room on the second floor. Tsunade, along with Shizune, was waiting in the room for her.

"Hey Baa-chan, Shizune-nee." she waved. "Where do you want me?"

Tsunade pointed to the bed in the middle of the room. "Just sit there." she said and pulled up a chair to sit in front of her. Shizune sat in one along the wall. "We're not gonna do much today. I'm just going to check on the embryo see how everything is, confirm there is a baby in there, and then just talk to you for a bit." She stood up in front of Naruto. "Lift your shirt please."

The blonde lifted her shirt up just under her breasts. The elder applied her chakra to her hand and held it to the blonde's lower stomach. She pressed in a little, then moved it to the right and pressed a little more. "Well, gaki, you were right. I'd say you're about five to six weeks pregnant." Naruto broke out into a huge smile. She believed the pregnancy test, but it's nice to hear it confirmed by a professional. "You can put your shirt down now."

"You're gonna be my doctor right, Baa-chan. I mean Shizune-nee too, but no one else right?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes we will be, but I figured just in case, we'd have Sakura in here too. I still have a lot of work to do. Work I was hoping you'd be able to help me with by the way." She gave her a stern look. "But I guess being pregnant won't hinder you that much. We were planning on having you go with a few other ambassadors to help with negotiations with the others villages. They trust you. But we can't send a pregnant woman out so there goes that." The elder shrugged and flopped into her chair. "I have talked it over with the council and with the recommendations of several high ranking shinobi, councilman, and the Daimyo they have accepted you as the Rokudaime Hokage."

"Seriously! I mean I'm really going to be the Hokage!" Naruto jumped down. "Yatta! I did it!"

"Calm down idiot." she said with a small smile. "We have a lot to talk about." Naruto sat back down as Tsunade continued. "You won't be getting this job for quite a few years. You are only seventeen. And as I don't plan on dying anytime soon I will have the time to train you for the things you'll need to know about running the village. Depending on how everything goes with the training, your pregnancy, and the eventual birth and raising of the child you won't be officially made Hokage until around your twentieth or twenty first birthday. The only way you'd be chosen beforehand is if I died before then."

Naruto was on cloud nine. She was pregnant with Sasuke's child. She was finally becoming the Hokage. People acknowledged her for her. Shikamaru was… well she wasn't sure what he was yet, but he was there and that meant a lot to her. Life couldn't get any better.

"Now, I want you to tell me who the father of your baby is." The Godaime glared at the young girl.

"I don't know." she lied.

"How could you not know?" Tsunade countered.

"I don't know." she said again.

Tsunade sighed. She knew she'd never get it out of the girl, and as much as she wanted to, she wasn't going to push. "Just… just tell me one day okay?" she asked.

"I promise." Naruto smiled back.

"On a way more important note, what do you know about being pregnant, and raising a child?" she asked.

"Not a damn clue." The young girl laughed.

Tsunade groaned. "Sometimes I wonder how you manage to function. How could you get yourself pregnant and not know what you were getting yourself into?"

"Well I figured I'd learn as I go about raising it, and with the being pregnant stuff that's what I have you for Baa-chan!" she girl chirped.

Shizune got up from her seat and walked over to a cabinet area, and pulled out a sack to hand to Naruto. "This is kind of a starter kit we give to new moms. There is a book in there that tells you basically everything you need to know about being pregnant and what to expect. If at anytime something comes up and you can't find it in the book, or even if you can and are just worried you can always ask us. There are some vitam-" she cut herself off and plucked out the prenatal vitamin bottle. "Actually since you're a Jinchuriki you won't need those vitamins, they would just make you sick."

"Eh? How so?" Naruto asked.

"When a baby develops in its mother it takes its nutrients from her body. So normal women have to take these pills to supplement the vitamins that are going into the baby instead. For example, you need calcium for your bones and teeth to be strong and healthy. If a woman isn't eating correctly and taking extra vitamins to replace it her teeth and bones can get weak and break easily. Iron is another example. It helps to carry oxygen through your body in the blood stream, without it you will become anemic. Becoming anemic while pregnant can cause the baby to be born premature, that means be delivered too early, or to have a low birth weight. A low birth weight can lead to multiple health problems for the growing infant." Shizune lectured.

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "But then why don't I have to take them?" she questioned.

Tsunade smiled at her. "Because gaki you're a Jinchuriki. The Biju constantly regulate your body to make sure it is at its healthiest. You are always right in range for everything on your blood tests. Your mother, and my grandmother, had been given pills when pregnant, but after tests were ran it was obvious they were running too high and were told to stop taking them. While having low levels of minerals is bad, having them too high is just as bad. As long as you eat normal, and more than ramen.." she scolded, "..the Biju will keep you and the baby healthy. Plus, we will be doing blood tests to make sure. If anything is wrong we know how to fix it. You just have to worry about outside factors. Be careful around your stomach, don't let anything hit it. Keep your chakra levels at normal. Too high chakra can rupture the placenta causing a miscarriage or premature labor depending on how far into the pregnancy you are. And you can exercise but keep it light. Light training is good for you and the baby, and will make birthing a tad bit easier. Do you have any questions?" she finished.

Naruto thought about it. "No I don't think so. At least not for right now anyway."

"Okay then," The Godaime nodded, "Then I want you to start coming to the office on the weekdays. Around nine in the morning. Be prepared to stay till around three, and we'll eat lunch in the office. Also, we will schedule another appointment for next month. When you come in we will run some blood tests, and check on the heartbeat."

The jinchuriki saluted, "Understood Baa-chan." After their congratulations, and goodbyes Naruto turned and left.

She walked through the hallway and out into the sunlight. Squinting her eyes she walked to the stairs and stopped to look for Shikamaru. He stood there leaning against the bottom railing on the left side of the staircase. "Oi, Shika!" she waved and started down the steps only to lose her balance and fall.

When Shikamaru heard her call to him he straightened and started to walk towards her. His smile soon turned to panic when he saw her falling down the stairs. He rushed as quickly as he could to catch her, not even thinking about his kagemane at the time. He caught her around shoulders and she slammed into him. He fell and landed on a step with one arm around her and the other holding the railing to keep him from falling further.

"You alright?" he asked and carefully sat up with her in his lap. She was visibly shaking.

"Someone pushed me." she whispered.

His eyes darted around to try to see if he could find the culprit. They were a few onlookers coming to see if they were alright, but no one stood out. "The council?" he whispered back.

"Probably. No one else knew I was having an appointment today."

_Damnit._ He thought. _I have to be more careful and pay better attention. They could have seriously gotten hurt._

He picked her up and winced a bit. Not bothering with it he carried her back into the hospital to make sure everything was alright. Once they were sure everything was good they headed the the marketplace for dinner ingredients then back to Naruto's apartment.

Naruto told Shikamaru to sit on the couch as she got started on dinner. Once it was cooking and everything else was put away she walked to the couch. "What would we do without you?" she hugged the brunette around the waist only to feel him tense. "Shika what's wrong?"

"Nothing." he said, but he didn't expect her to move around him and lift his shirt up.

"Holy crap, Shika! Why didn't you say anything? That bruise looks painful. Let me go get the medical kit." The Nara tried to look around him to see if he could see it himself but winced and decided it wasn't worth looking.

Naruto came back with some cream and gauze. "Take your shirt off. That bruise is huge." He slowly pulled it off and she couldn't help but admire how the muscles moved along his back. She had always thought Shikamaru was a skinny string bean. Tall and thin, but she'd never have guessed that he was this muscled. It was just very refined and not the bulky mass some men put on.

Taking the cream she warmed it up in her hands before starting at his upper right shoulder and rubbing it in. He grunted a bit from the pain of the pressure, but soon gave in to her skilled fingers. Over and over she added more cream running from right shoulder all the way down to lower mid back. When she was finished she wrapped it in gauze to keep it from smearing.

"All done." she said. "Dinner smells like it's finished you ready to eat?" she questioned. He nodded. Getting up and heading to the kitchen table neither realized he left his shirt in the living room.

* * *

The month heading to Naruto's next appointment was very busy with her working at the Hokage's office everyday learning the tricks of the trade. She had had another almost catastrophic fall (_shove_) down the stairs at the tower. This time Shikamaru wasn't there to catch her, and she luckily fell into a startled chunin who helped her regain her balance.

She also eventually told all her friends about the baby, and while surprised they were all very supportive of her. When asked who the father was she just ignored the question and most just assumed it was Shikamaru. Though if it was, they were wondering why they were keeping it a secret. Most knew or could at least see that the Nara felt something for her.

When Tsunade walked into the exam room she was a little shocked to see Shikamaru accompanying her gaki. "What are you doing here?" He shrugged and continued to slouch against the wall.

Naruto just smiled. "Come on let's do this!" she was bouncing in her seat on the table. "I want to hear the heartbeat."

Tsunade got out the fetal doppler and went to Naruto. If the young blonde was alright with him being here then who was she to tell him to leave. "Alright, gaki, lay back and lift up your shirt."

Shikamaru's eyes quickly moved to her stomach as Naruto did as she was told. She was coming up on nearing her fourth month, but you couldn't tell at all that she was pregnant. He pushed off the wall and walked around Tsunade to stand on the other side of Naruto. She looked at him and smiled.

Tsunade turned on the machine and pressed it to her lower abdomen. "Hm.. That is the normal sounds of your stomach working. Let's see." She removed it and used her chakra covered hand to feel for the baby. When she was done she replaced the doppler on the upper right of her stomach. There was a faint bum bum. "That would be your heart." She pulled it down a little and pressed a tad bit harder and angled it with the end sticking up.

_Bum Bum. Bum Bum. _"There it is." she smiled at Naruto. "That is your baby." Naruto was amazed. Shikamaru had to sit down on the chair behind him. They looked at each other and just listened. _Bum Bum. Bum Bum._ Tears filled Naruto's eyes. "It's strong. Good rhythm. It sounds very healthy."

She didn't know what to say. That sound. That sound proved that Uchiha Sasuke was still alive, a part of him really was within her. "That's just... I mean… Wow." she ended. Tsunade went to remove the machine, but Naruto's hand shot out and stopped her. "I still want to hear it." she pouted.

"I have to take some blood for your tests."

Shikamaru stood and walked around the bed. "You do what you have to Tsunade-sama. I'll hold it if that's okay?" He held his hand out to replace hers. Nodding she let him take it and started grabbing the vials to draw blood with.

He sat on the bed next to Naruto and they just listened to the sound of the heartbeat. Neither paid attention to what the medic was doing. The loud thumping of each beat just solidified to them both that this was real.

"This is amazing, isn't it?" she asked him. He just nodded not knowing what to say.

* * *

The next few weeks went on as normal. Naruto would still join the Hokage for her training every weekday. She'd spend the day filing reports and learning about how the lands ran. The major treaties and trade agreements between Konoha and the local villages within Hi no Kuni were discussed and made certain that she knew them in and out.

The new treaties between the five major villages were gone over. Tsunade let Naruto read them to see if she could figure out any loopholes that would be disadvantageous for Konoha. Once she was Hokage Naruto needed to be the one to spot what her subordinates might miss.

She had also had several meetings with the Godaime and the different merchants and clans. All in all Naruto's knowledge was progressing at a faster rate than even Tsunade thought it would. With the way she was learning and taking things in she might become Hokage before her twentieth birthday.

Now, while her weekday days were spent in the tower most of her evenings were spent with Shikamaru. He would meet her at the tower and they would walk to her apartment together. Sometimes he'd have dinner ready for when they got there, other times they'd pick up groceries on the way and she'd cook for them.

Weekends she'd often train in the morning with Shika and some of their friends and then they'd spend their evenings much like the weekday ones.

Today, though, was a normal late Saturday morning training with what was left of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai. Even though it was late January they had not seen any snow this year. It was chilly, but with longer clothes and training they'd be warm in no time.

The group had gone through a normal stretching and running routine before going off into pairs for more hand to hand training. Since Naruto couldn't actually practice with the others that left an uneven number and Shikamaru was going to volunteer to sit with her, but someone else beat him to it.

Choji had been curious as to the amount of time his best friend had been spending with the girl. All the kids from the academy were friends in a way, but after they joined their respective teams they hadn't spent much time with the others. And Naruto was always one person nobody spent much time with.

With the exception of Hinata, the others hadn't actually been told not to go near her as a child. They all mostly made the decision that to play with Naruto meant nobody else would play with you and just kept their distance. Plus, she had been rather loud, boastful, and obnoxious.

If Choji had to make a guess he'd have to say that the only people to ever make any kind of friendly contact with her back then, besides the Sandaime and Iruka-sensei, it probably would have been Shikamaru, Kiba, and him. They had always gotten into some kind of trouble with the young boy who'd eventually become a girl.

Thinking back though Choji noticed Shikamaru had always paid some form of attention to Naruto. The time when she had been tricked into going into the Black Hills by their old classmates. Even after the kids had been warned not to go there because of the recent battle with foreign shinobi. Shika could have left it alone, normally would have, but he got involved and told Iruka-sensei, and possibly saved Naruto's life.

Then of course a more recent time being when Jiraiya-sama had died. Shikamaru went to Naruto using the fact that they needed to decode the cipher, but he could have left it alone.

Neither him nor Ino got any kind of comforting from Shikamaru when Asuma-sensei had died. So, why would he go to Naruto of all people. He was Shika's best friend after all, and he didn't get anything from him.

Also during Pein's invasion, he had heard how even with a broken leg the brunette had tried to go help the girl. And the most recent memory being during the war. Shikamaru was about to die and yet he still wanted to be useful to Naruto in any way he could, especially after she became Hokage.

So Choji began to wonder how long exactly had Shikamaru loved this girl. When they all thought she was still a boy? The plump shinobi was curious and decided he'd sit out with the excuse of wanting to eat. He wanted to see what it was about Naruto that drew Shikamaru in. Plus, if this girl was the girl his best friend loved then they should be on better talking terms and he wanted to fix that.

They both stood near a tree at the edge of the clearing. Naruto had wanted to be far enough away that if a stray shuriken or jutsu came her way she had time to dodge. Choji pulled out a bag of chips, from seemingly nowhere, and offered some to the young pregnant girl. "You hungry? I know pregnant women eat more, and thought you might want a snack."

She smiled and thanked him before taking a chip. "You come from a clan, I bet you are used to being around pregnant women huh? I wonder if that's why Shika is so good with it?" she mused.

He shook his head. "There have been a few pregnancies in the clan over the years, but I was never really around them that much. Mostly our team has been helping Kurenai-sensei with things since Asuma-sensei…" he cleared his throat still not used to his death. "... isn't here."

She reached over and patted right forearm that was holding the chip bag out to her. "That's really nice of you guys. I'm sure she appreciates it a lot. I know if it weren't for Shika I'd be having a much harder time with this."

"How are you doing with all this?" he wondered.

She tapped her chin. "Hmmm… not too bad really. I don't have any weird cravings yet. I've had a little bit of sickness, but thankfully the Biju usually override that as soon as it starts. It's mostly just feeling queasy. I do feel a lot more tired, but that could also be due to the fact that Baa-chan has me looking over super boring paperwork all the time." she smiled. "But like I said Shika has been a huge help. He helps me keep up with cleaning, and cooking at the house. Always making sure I remember my appointments." She began laughing, "Seriously, where is that lazy guy we all grew up with?"

"Who knows." The chubby boy chuckled.

"But wherever he went I sure am glad to have him around." She smiled softly and spread her palms over her stomach. "I know we wouldn't be here without him."

A thud was heard to Naruto's right and they both looked to see what it was. The group training had done this often and always angled their weapons away from Naruto's position. So they were surprised when they found not only a kunai imbedded into the tree the blonde was leaning against, but one with an exploding tag attached to it.

Knowing they'd never get out of the blast in time Choji did the only thing he could think to do. "Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" he yelled as his hand and arm grew to giant proportions. He grabbed Naruto as tightly as he could without hurting hurt as the tag detonated.

The resounding boom from the explosion sent a gust of wind that knocked the unsuspecting shinobi to the ground. Naruto's terrified shriek along with Choji's pain filled one had them up and running to their comrades.

"Naruto!" "Choji!"

Shikamaru ran faster than he had ever remembered moving. He arrived first to find Choji passed out face down on the ground. His right hand and arm still in a partial multi-size release. The hand and knuckles were torn to shreds and bleeding heavily. There were scorch marks up to his mid bicep. He knelt to check for a pulse, and once confirmed he looked around for Naruto, but he couldn't find her.

The Nara stood up and started searching for anywhere Naruto could have been blown to. He never noticed when the others showed up and Sakura pushed him out of the way to start healing Choji. As her healing chakra flowed into the plump boy, and started knitting his skin back together, his jutsu started to come undone.

The arm and hand starting shrinking fast and as they went Shikamaru was catching a glimpse of blonde hair. Running over to where the larger hand had been he saw the young woman, eyes clenched shut and curled in a ball, arms wrapped around her stomach hoping that that would help protect the precious bundle inside. When he got to her he dropped to his knees to gather the girl in his arms. "Naruto?" Knowing the voice and whose arms she was in she opened her eyes.

"Shika." Was all she said before squirming around to sit in his lap and wrap her arms around his chest. She set her head on his shoulder as frightened eyes filled with tears. Looking to her friends she noticed the young man who had saved her and her child passed out and bleeding on the forest floor. "Oh no! Choji!" She scrambled out of Shikamaru's lap and headed over to the young man she had just spent the late morning happily conversing with. Her ever present shadow followed close behind.

"Is he okay, Sakura-chan?" she questioned. The pink haired medic nodded her head and finished healing what was left. The bleeding had stopped and his skin was pink, but that was the best she could do.

"Yes. I fixed the shattered finger bones and torn ligaments in the hand. I also sped up the regrowth of skin cells to cover where it was blown apart. The skin, joints, and bones will be tender for a while, but he'll still have full use of his fingers." Sakura moved over next to Naruto and started to run her chakra through her system to check out her condition. "You are lucky. Besides an increased heart rate, for obvious reasons, you are okay. No damage to you, or the baby. The placenta feels good too."

Naruto sighed. Good, she was fine, the baby was fine, and Choji would be good as new in a few days. They got lucky.

"Well that's good and all, but what the hell was that?" Kiba barked. "Who the hell was using exploding tags?" He looked at everyone and when he didn't get an answer he went on. "So, if it wasn't one of us who was it?"

Shikamaru and Naruto exchanged glances before they sighed. "If I had a guess I'd say it was someone the council hired." The young man drawled.

"Why would they do that?" Kiba retorted.

"Because they don't want me to have this baby." When she had told her friends she was pregnant she had left this part out. Not wanting to worry them about something that might have been nothing. Shikamaru grabbed her hand to help comfort her as she continued. "The day I told Tsunade about the baby the two elders were there. They were trying to force me into dating some men who had sent in marriage requests." The shocked gasps and shouts of disbelief from the women had her nodding. "Yeah that's about how I felt when they told me. Baa-chan said I couldn't refuse dates, but I could refuse marriages. She told me that because of my higher status in the village now I couldn't outright refuse or it might hurt our negotiations with the villages requesting for my hand in marriage."

She sighed and shifted to lean into Shikamaru, something her comrades didn't miss. "When I told her I couldn't do it she told me to give them a good reason. I told her I couldn't because I was pregnant. Totally shocked her. She thought she was hallucinating." She grinned widely.

Then her face turned murderous. "That old bitch Koharu told me to abort the baby." she growled out. "Then that old asshole Homura told me they'd never find me a suitable husband with a bastard child." She was shaking with rage when she finished.

"That… that's horrible." Sakura stated.

"Yes very unyouthful of them." Lee nodded.

"The next day I went to an appointment at the hospital with Baa-chan. She had said in the office at one tomorrow. Only her, Shika, the two elders, and I knew. When I got out of my appointment I was pushed down the stairs. Thankfully Shika was there to catch me." She smiled at him and gently patted his thigh. "I have been shoved down the stairs on another occasion as well. This makes the third attempt that's been made on this child's life." She hugged her stomach.

"We can't let them continue to do what they want." Choji spoke. He had woken up at the beginning of her tale and didn't want to bring attention to himself.

Naruto's head snapped to Choji before she flung herself at him. He caught her easily as she cried into his shoulder. "Thank Kami, you're okay. And thank you! So much! You don't know how much this means to me." Choji felt a little uncomfortable with all the attention. Not only that but this was his best friends girl in his lap. He looked over her blonde head to glance at Shikamaru, who just smiled at him and mouthed the words thank you.

"From what I've heard the council has done quite a few dirty underhanded things over the years." Shino chimed in.

"The Itachi situation was quite despicable." Hinata agreed. Even though Kakashi had said they never had proof and couldn't tell anyone Naruto had told her friends, Sasuke's classmates. They at least deserved to know the truth.

"There have been others as well." Ino said. "The village might not have suffered the damage it did during Pein's invasion had they let Tsunade-sama summon Naruto sooner."

"Yeah, and they killed one of my frogs too!" The blonde shouted.

"While I do not know what we can do about the council and the things they do I am quite worried about you." Tenten pointed to Naruto. "If they have went to the trouble of seriously trying to injure you I don't think you should be alone. Ever. While you're pregnant at least."

"That's okay." She chirped. "I'm never alone. Shika's always with me." She beamed and nudged him with her shoulder. The rest just smiled. Kiba wagged his eyebrows at Shikamaru which cause him to roll his eyes and mutter troublesome.

"Well even so," Hinata went on to continue. "I think that if Shikamaru can't be with you one of us should." Naruto started to protest, but the young Hyuuga heir directed her next statement to the Nara boy. "If you can't be with her you make sure you bring her to one of us. Okay?" He nodded at her.

Naruto was completely flabbergasted. "This is my life don't I get a say in this. I _am_ an adult for crying out loud." She sighed when a chorus of 'No's' answered her and everyone started getting up to leave.

"Wait, wait!" Kiba's grin grew feral. "What about nighttime. Shouldn't someone be there to watch her then? If they did this out in the daytime who's to say they wouldn't try something while she's sleeping." Everyone saw his point on that.

The girls were about volunteer taking turns on who could stay the night, but one six word sentence stopped everyone in their tracks.

"That's already been taken care of."

* * *

They were quiet the entire way back to Naruto's apartment. She didn't know how to breach the subject with Shikamaru. What did he mean that was already taken care of? Did he have someone watching her already? Did _he_ watch her sleep? That thought made her blush and kept her from speaking until they were safely inside her home.

Naruto tried to speak a couple of different times, but couldn't think of what she wanted to say. Shikamaru could tell she was struggling and sent her off to take a shower. He said he would start on lunch while she cleaned herself up.

The blonde did as told and when she came out of the bathroom she was delighted with the wonderful smell of ramen. Running the towel over her head she bounded into the kitchen. "Yum! Ramen! My favorite!" She smiled at him and took a seat at the table. She really wanted to dig in, but looking at him decided against it.

She cleared her throat nervously. "You know." she started head bowed and staring at the table. "You could take a shower too if you wanted. I'm sure I have something from when I was a boy that will fit you." She shyly raised her eyes to meet his, afraid she might see rejection, or horror, or her worst fear disgust.

What she did see had her bursting out laughing. She didn't think he could blush, but he did. Oh boy, did he. The blush covered his entire lower face, up to his ears, and down his neck. And his poor eyes looked like they might bug out. "I'm sorry." she giggled. "I'm so sorry I'm laughing." She wiped a tear from under her left eye. "I have never seen you make a face like that, ever!" Then his blush deepened at being put on the spot like that and she laughed some more.

When she finally calmed down he refused to look at her. "I'm sorry Shika. Really I am. I guess I don't know. I'm kind of nervous." He raised an eyebrow at her. What did she have to be nervous about. "I've never had to share my home with anyone before. No one has ever used my shower, but me. I guess I kind of feel rude that I get to come home after training and shower and feel refreshed while you have to sit there all sweaty. I didn't even do as much as you. But, if you want you can use the shower. As I said I should have something for you to wear today, and you can start bringing things to change into since you're here all the time." She fidgeted in her seat a little.

He was happy. She was thinking of his well being. Hopefully this was leading them into the right direction. He took her up on her offer and headed to take a shower. While he was in he heard her knock on the door and open it. "I'm just going to put what I found here and I'll take your dirty clothes and wash them ok?" She didn't even wait for his answer.

When he got out there were a pair of pants, an old shirt, and boxer briefs. He didn't think he'd be wearing her old underwear. It was strange. It was so weird to think the girl he loved used to be a guy. But he sucked it up and got dressed, because it didn't matter.

The shirt was dark blue and a little big. Actually, it looked like the one he saw on her months ago when he first came to see how she was dealing with Sasuke's death sentence. The rest of the items didn't fit right though.

Even as a boy Naruto was smaller than the rest of them. He attributed it as a way to not make things difficult for her when her body made the transformation back into a girl. It made sense. Her girl self was probably around five foot three. The boy had been around five foot five. If Naruto had been more than those few inches taller it would have completely thrown off her taijutsu. While in the beginning she still had to improve on the loss of those few inches it wasn't a big deal and she quickly adapted to it.

So here he found himself with underwear a few sizes too small and pants that wouldn't fit. Thankfully the shirt was really big. Where it had fallen to her lower thighs, almost her knees, it would at least cover up his more private area that was being noticeably showcased in the too tight shorts. But they would work for today.

He left the bathroom and headed back towards the living room. "The pants were too small." he said. She turned around and got a good look at the boy, no man, standing before her. Those blue eyes slowly trailed up his form. He was stunned as he watched them glaze over as they moved up. He felt a certain twitch in his lower anatomy when she licked her lips.

When her eyes finally reached his she looked away embarrassed. He coughed as he handed her the pants. "Oh umm sorry these were the biggest ones I could find." she said as she took them from him and rushed to put them back in her room.

She slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. _Idiot! Why were you staring at him like that. _She hit her head off the door. _You're a jinchuriki. Don't forget that. No matter how good he looks in those tight... oh so tight boxers._ Shaking her head she moved to lay the pants on her bed. _Besides,_ she thought sadly, _until about four months ago he thought you were a boy as well. Why would he ever feel anything romantic for you._ She walked back out to join the boy for their forgotten lunch.

While she was in the bedroom Shikamaru had taken on the task of reheating the ramen. He needed something to do to keep his mind off the way her eyes had darkened when she took in the way his body looked. _God, when she licked her lips._ He shivered. Putting his hands on the counter he bent over and took deeps breaths. _Calm down. You're not wearing any pants, and these boxers aren't hiding anything._ He closed his eyes and breathed. Over and over. And over.

The sound of the microwave beeping brought him back from the land of blue eyes and tongues and lips. _Oh my god! Fucking stop it!_ he shouted at himself. Getting the food he turned to put it back on the table when he noticed her standing there.

"Uh hi." _Lame!_ His brain shouted at him. She smiled at him, and it hurt. It wasn't as bright as it usually was. He could tell she was nervous around him and he didn't want that. Not at all. He placed the ramen cups on the table and sat down to eat. She quickly followed.

After a few minutes of nothing being said Naruto decided to fill the gap. "So… umm what did you mean back there? About what Kiba said. You know.. uh about having someone staying here." she questioned. _Seriously, you sound like a girl. Hormones or not, man the fuck up Uzumaki!_ With those words she sat up straighter. "I am a big girl you know. I don't need someone with me all the time." She gave a firm nod of her head.

Seeing the fire back in her eyes he relaxed, and leaned back in his chair. "You say that and yet you've had three separate attacks that had someone not been there, you or the baby could have seriously gotten hurt." Seeing that some of the fire start to die and knowing she was blaming herself he went on. "I can stay here." He took in her shocked expression. "I don't mind. I'm here most of the time anyway."

"But what about your mother? The clan? With your father not around aren't you supposed to take care of things. I can't just have you basically moving in. There's only the one bed anyway where would you sleep?" she rambled off her questions in one breath.

She went to say more but he interrupted her. "It's fine. You are busy with Tsunade-sama during the weekdays anyway. I can do all that stuff while you are with her. I'm here all evening and on the weekends as it is now. You don't have to worry about my clansmen they can take care of themselves." He smiled to reassure her. "Trust me. Yes, I'm the heir and I am supposed to take care of the clan, but I am only seventeen. My mother and grandparents are taking care of them for now. While I could take over now, that would be troublesome, and they want me to enjoy my childhood." He paused. "Well, as much of a childhood as any shinobi bred kid can get. So don't worry." He reached across the table to grab her hand holding her chopsticks. "I want to be here okay?"

Naruto didn't know what to say to that. He wanted to be there with her and the baby. He wanted to help. How could she say no to that? "Alright." she finally conceded. "But, where will you sleep?"

"The couch will be fine." she went to argue about him sleeping on the old tattered couch, but he silenced her with a finger to the lips. "I'm used to sleeping on the ground remember. I'll be fine."

Staring at the finger on her lips she nodded. He withdrew his hand and they finished lunch.

* * *

"So, do you know you what you're having yet?" Ino asked Naruto during a Thursday lunch at Yakiniku Q.

Naruto shook her head. "No. I really don't care what it is. Boy, girl doesn't matter as long as it's healthy. But Baa-chan said at the next appointment I could find out if I wanted."

"Well then, Shikamaru, what are you hoping for boy or girl?" The pale blonde went on to question.

He shrugged. "Naruto's right. As long as it's healthy does it really matter?"

"I hope it's a girl!" Ino squealed. "Then I can babysit her when she is older and do her hair and teach her all the girl stuff you don't care about." The poor girl had tried to teach Naruto about makeup and fashion, but it all fell on deaf ears. The best Sakura and she could do was take the tomboy out everyone so often and help her to buy new clothes and fix her up when needed.

"Uh… I don't think that will be necessary Ino." The young pregnant girl tried to persuade.

Pale blue eyes watered as the older girl sniffled. "What? Don't you trust me Naruto? Or is it that you don't see me as a close enough friend?" She brought a hand up to cover her eyes, shoulders shaking.

"No! It's not like that." The jinchuriki shouted. She reached across the table to grab Ino's other hand. "It's fine Ino. You can do those things if you want to." She smiled kindly at her.

The crying girl suddenly dropped her hand and looked at Naruto with a beaming smile. "Great!"

Naruto was shocked by the sudden change in emotion. She looked at Shikamaru who just sighed and leaned back into the booth before shifting her eyes to Choji who was chuckling quietly. She'd been conned.

She opened her mouth to say something but quickly looked at the man sitting next to her when he grabbed her hand underneath the table. With a shake of his head she just sighed and realized there was no getting out of this one.

Naruto had learned a lot over the last few weeks about Ino and Choji during these lunches. While she had been friends with them she had never spent any personal time with them outside of missions, and the time at the academy.

There was a whole other side to Ino that Naruto never knew existed. Since Ino had mostly spent her time around Naruto fawning over Sasuke, and fighting Sakura about it, Naruto never thought she was more than just a rabid annoying fangirl, but Ino was quite intelligent, and had a vast knowledge of psychology. Naruto didn't always understand what she was talking about, but she could see Ino had a passion for it. Ino had been training in the T&amp;I department since the war ended. Learning to replace her dad there and in the council meetings. The young Yamanaka didn't think she was doing all that well, but Shikamaru said differently. She was not her dad and they all knew it, but she was getting there.

Choji she learned was an extremely kind young man. He never thought twice about protecting her from that exploding tag, and every time she praised him on it he would blush and put his head down. The poor boy didn't know how to take her compliments. She found it rather cute, and would often tease the young man. He also had a passion for food. Not just eating it, but cooking it as well. He had spent a few different evenings at Naruto's teaching her how to cook some of his favorite dishes.

And the there was Shikamaru. She didn't know what to think about him. She always knew he was smart, but the level of care and the companionship he was giving her was mindboggling. She often found herself staring at him while they ate or sat and talked. The fact that he invited her to his favorite tree to cloud watch stunned her. She knew that was sort of like a holy place to him. His one peaceful spot away from everyone. The fact that he had let her invade such a sacred place, and on more than one occasion, meant a lot to her.

She could admit though that over the last few months, and even years before that, she found him to be quite an attractive male. Did she love him? Sure, she loved all her friends. Was she _in_ love with him? She didn't know, but she did know what she felt for the shadow user was quickly turning into something different than her normal feelings. But she knew he knew she was a Jinchuriki, and carrying Sasuke's child, why would he ever want her?

"So," Ino continued, "You are really starting to show now Naruto."

The jinchuriki sighed. "Yes, but I don't think I'm showing enough. Like I know there is a baby in there, but I feel I'm at that, 'Is she just fat or pregnant', stage of being pregnant." Everyone chuckled.

"It's alright Naruto, I'm pretty sure the whole village knows you are pregnant by now. You don't have to worry about how they look at you." Choji smiled.

"Thanks." she said back. "But I hate to say that I will always worry about how people look at me. With the elders trying to murder my child, and the fact that I am a Jinchuriki I will always worry. Sad thing is this village is my home. Nobody should ever have to worry about these things in their home. One more thing I have to change when I'm officially Hokage, ne?"

"We all know you'll do a great job." Shikamaru put his arm around her. She just smiled at him and leaned into the arm. Ino and Choji shared a knowing look. They knew the Nara and Uzumaki said they weren't together, but it was only a matter of time.

The lunch went on with the usual chatter over the next hour. As they were getting ready to leave Naruto excused herself to the bathroom.

"I will go with you." Ino offered.

"No, it's okay I just have to go pee. You know kid on my bladder and all even if it's not that big yet." Naruto had been feeling suffocated over the last few weeks of never being left alone. A quick trip to the bathroom alone would help her regain a little feeling of freedom.

Coming out of the stall Naruto walked towards the sink. Sighing, she stared at herself in the mirror. She took a stray strand of hair and moved it behind her ear before turning on the water. While looking down at her hands she felt fingers slide into her hair and grab a hold tightly. Before she could react she was quickly shoved face first into the mirror. The glass shattered where her forehead met it.

The sounds of the kitchen next to the bathroom covered up the sounds of breaking glass, keeping the noises inside the room, and not alerting anyone to what was going on.

The hand that was still in her hair drew her back and threw her against the stall door. She smacked roughly against the corner jarring her back, and thrusting her head into the door hard. With her vision blurred from the impact she was only able to make out the black clothes and plain ANBU mask. The person grabbed her around the neck and thrust a kunai at her pregnant belly. She had enough mind and instinct to turn to the side before the Biju chakra shot out and tossed the assailant across the room. Naruto slid down the stall door and landed on her knees before falling to the side.

The masked figure had been flung towards the sinks and crashed through the wooden cabinets underneath. The wood shattered under the force and the assassin was speared through the neck on a jagged edge..

Naruto crawled to the door and barely managed to sit up enough to push it open. Blood pouring down her face and into her mouth and eyes she yelled at the top of her lungs. "SHIKAMARU!" That one scream pierced through the rather quiet dining atmosphere scaring half the customers.

* * *

Shikamaru waited impatiently for Naruto to come back. Noticing his unease Ino spoke up. "Maybe I should go check on her?" Choji stood to let Ino out and as soon as she was on her feet a terrified scream filled the air.

The Nara was on his feet in seconds rushing towards the restroom, Ino and Choji close behind him. When he reached the entrance to the lady's room he found Naruto leaning against the door frame on the floor. She was shaking, blood pouring down her face, her left hand grasping the hilt of a kunai stuck in her mid left side. "Shit!" he cursed before kneeling next to her.

He made to grab the kunai and removed it, but Ino quickly grabbed his wrist. "Stop! Don't touch it!" she yelled. "It's in her side. While I can't say for sure if the baby is okay or not, you can't pull the kunai out. If it sliced through the placenta and you pull it out now the fluid will start to drain. Low fluid is dangerous for the baby. Not to mention bacteria can get in and kill it. Hurry, let's take her to the hospital." Ino might not have been an official medic nin, but her and Hinata had also learned some medical ninjutsu along with Sakura.

Shikamaru carefully pulled Naruto's arm over his shoulder and lifted her into his arms. She moaned and cried out from the shifting of the kunai in her side. She rested her head against his shoulder and gripped his shirt. "Don't let my baby die. Please, Shika, I can't lose this baby." she pleaded over and over again. He had never wished he knew medical ninjutsu more than he did at that moment. He wanted to grant her wish so bad.

Ino had raced to the Hokage tower to alert Tsunade-sama about the situation. Choji ran with Shikamaru and Naruto to make sure people weren't in the way as they rushed their friend to the hospital.

Tsunade was waiting in the lobby with Shizune and Sakura when they arrived. They quickly put her on a stretcher and took her to the operating room.

As soon as the doors closed behind them Shikamaru headed out the main doors of the hospital. Choji and Ino followed after him. "Shikamaru wait! Stop!" Ino shouted, but he wouldn't listen.

Choji grabbed him by the forearm. "Shikamaru." he said. "You should be here for her when she gets out."

"And I plan to be." He jerked his arm, but the heavier boy held his grip. "Let me go Choji. Now." Ino and Choji had only ever heard a similar tone of voice from their friend once before, and that was when they had decided to go after Asuma's murderer. Shikamaru was pissed and it scared them a bit.

"You love her don't you?" Ino quietly asked. "I have never seen you this mad before Shikamaru. Not even when Asuma-sensei was killed. You were angry and you wanted revenge for his death, but this is a whole new level of anger from you. Is she that important to you?"

"Yes." No hesitation whatsoever.

"Then be here for her. Stay here." Ino pleaded.

"You stay. In case she gets out before I get back." They both opened their mouths to plead with him to stay, but he continued. "I need to do this. You both just have to trust me." And he left.

Choji turned to Ino. "I'm going to follow him. You go back to Naruto." He didn't even check to see if she listened, and ran after his best friend.

Shikamaru was livid when he entered the Hokage Tower. He stopped the first person he saw. "Where are the elders? Koharu and Homura."

The young man blinked. "I think they are in the conference room. But you can't go in there they are having a meeting." The Nara just ignored him and hurried to where the councilmen were.

When he got there he barged through the doors two kunai already in hand, and sent them flying into the desks in front of the elders. Two ANBU flashed in from their hiding places. A few civilians and shinobi councilmen were there with some of the dignitaries from the other four Nations. Tsunade had been at the meeting until Ino had found her.

"What is the meaning of this, Nara." Koharu questioned.

"You will listen to me carefully for I will never repeat this to you." he spoke calmly. "Stay the hell away from Naruto and our child or I will kill you." Several gasps were heard in the background.

"Your child?" Homura questioned. "If the child is really yours why wouldn't Naruto have just told us?"

"Because it's none of your fucking business who she has a child with. Even if it is _my_ child. She doesn't have to tell you a damn thing." he spat.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No more of your games. I'm tired of your shit. You tried to have her thrown down the stairs to force a miscarriage. You tried to get her hit with an exploding tag to kill our baby. But this… this is the last straw." he slowly stalked towards them, grabbing Homura by his white shoulder scarf. "You better _fucking_ pray that the kunai your assassin stabbed her with missed the baby or Konoha is going to need two new councilmen."

"You have no proof, Nara, and threatening us could get you thrown into prison." Koharu advised.

"Really? Because I seem to recall you two were the ones threatening Naruto to abort the baby the first time you heard of her being pregnant. Wanting to use her as leverage to marry off to make Konoha more prosperous. After everything you and this village did to her as a child you want her to give up another part of her life for you to dictate! You stay away from her and our child or you'll find out just how threatening I can really be!" He threw the old man to the floor, turned, and stormed past the stunned Choji. He had to get back to Naruto.

* * *

Blurred blue eyes slowly opened to survey the room they were in. It took the blonde a few minutes to realize she was in a hospital room. Groaning she tried to push herself into a seated position only to feel a terrible stabbing pain in her left side. Turning her head she came across a pile of brunette hair laying on her right side.

Blinking a few times to moisten her dry eyes she finally recognized the sleeping man as Shikamaru. His hair wasn't in a ponytail and it threw her off at first. Lifting her right hand she slowly moved it to touch the brown strands.

The hair was softer than she expected. She twirled a few locks between her fingers before moving them to massage the scalp underneath. A contented grunt came from the man and made her giggle.

That small noise though made him jump out of his semi-conscious state and turn worried eyes to her own. "Hey." he whispered.

"What happened?" her voice was scratchy. He reached over to the side table and grabbed a cup of water. He helped her lift her head up before putting the cup to her lips. She greedily drank it down.

"You don't remember?" he asked when she was finished.

She tried to think back to the last thing she remembered, and it all came flooding back. Glossy blue eyes widened as she reached for her stomach. "The baby!" she shouted. Tears already making their way down her face.

Shikamaru quickly sat next to her on the bed. "Shh. Shh. Shh." he sounded. "It's okay, the baby is fine. You got lucky." he wiped the tears from her face. Smoothing out her hair and resting his hand over her frantic ones on her stomach. "The kunai went through your side and into the placenta, but missed the baby completely. Good thing it's not very big right now. Tsunade-sama healed the entrance wounds up as she pulled the kunai out. So there should be no side effects to what happened. But we'll have to bring you back next week for a check up. Okay?"

She sniffled and tried to hug him, but the pain in her side hit her again. "Why does my side still hurt then?" she asked.

"The Biju can't do much with their chakra without possibly hurting the baby. Tsunade-sama said they weren't healing you when we brought you in, but they were keeping you in a sort of stasis to make sure you didn't have a miscarriage." He helped to bring her into a more upright position as he explained. Moving pillows behind her back to make her more comfortable. "She knows that they are semi-aware of what goes on outside your body, and made sure they knew not to pump out anymore of their chakra after she healed you. As a result you will still feel the pain of the stabbing even though it's healed."

The blonde nodded. That made sense. The Biju had also helped in the struggle with her attacker. She'd have to be more aware of her chakra use over the next few days and keep it on a tighter lock.

She'd also have to remember to thank them as well. Since the joining of all nine biju within her at the end of the war, they had been rather quiet. A lot of their chakra had been used to help stop Madara and then Kaguya so they were rather tired. Her pregnancy was also not helping as well, and while their chakra will manifest they are more often than not sleeping to regain their full powers.

"The person who did this to me, did you happen to find out who it was?":The pregnant girl was worried that the next time something happened it would be the last and she'd lose Sasuke's child. They had to find out who did this, how they could connect it to the councils top two, and get them to stop these assassination attempts.

Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto." she looked at him confused. He sounded so serious. More serious than she had ever heard from him. "There's something we need to discuss." Fluffing the pillows at her back again he sat back at her side.

She waited for him to continue for quite a while. When she thought he'd changed his mind about speaking he grabbed her hand. "I don't think you'll have to worry about the council anymore."

"That's great!" she interrupted.

He shook his head and went on. "I did something you might not like."

Squeezing his hand she spoke to him genuinely. "With everything you have done for us, Shikamaru, I doubt there is anything you could do that would upset me." She smiled at him.

"I told the council the baby was mine." he quickly blurted.

Naruto stiffened at those words. "You… you did what?" she whispered.

"I told them you were carrying my child." he modified.

"Why!" she almost shouted "Why would you do something like that." She was so confused. _Why would he tell them that?_ she questioned herself. _It doesn't make any sense._

"Because. Because if they think it's my child, The next Nara heir they'll stop this. You and the baby will be protected. We won't have to worry about someone trying to kill it. I was just trying to protect you both." He said lifting a hand to cradle her cheek.

"It's not your job to protect us Shika." she went on. "You've done enough for us. You.. you don't have to lie about this. Do you know what this will do to you?" She grabbed his hand. Tears falling from her eyes and she pleaded with him to understand what he was doing to his future. "How will your family feel about this? What will you do when people find out you lied? What will they think of you for being with _me? _What about finding someone to _love?_"

Something about where this conversation was heading was hurting her heart. Thinking of Shikamaru finding someone else to love, being with someone else, and leaving her with alone with the baby was breaking it in two. But she went on for his sake, because this baby wasn't his and he shouldn't be shackled down to them just so they can be protected from the council.

"How can you have a relationship with someone if they think we have a child together? How can you-" she was cut off when his lips landed on hers. His warm, gentle hands on either side of her face holding them together.

When he pulled away she was staring at him with rounded eyes. Still holding onto her face he stared into her blue eyes, making damn sure she was looking at him when he finally said, "I love you."

"You can't!" she pleaded. "How can you. I mean just look at me. You know what I am, and while I could accept that you could possibly look past me being a Jinchuriki, how could you love me in so short a time?" she grabbed his hands and pulled them from her face. Shaking her head over and over she continued. "I've only been a girl for what six months? How can you say you love me in that short amount of time. I've been a boy for seventeen years. It doesn't make sense and I can't accept that."

Sighing he tightened his fingers around her hands. "I know." he said. Looking up at him Naruto cocked her head to one side. "I know the truth." She didn't know what he was talking about. What did he know.

He shifted a little and started again. "I remember once when I was four years old. My dad was watching me while my mom was out. At some point he got called to the Hokage's office, and since he had me I had to go with him. I wasn't allowed into Sandaime-sama's office so I was made to wait outside in a chair. That's when I heard them speaking. I don't think they knew I could hear, but they were talking about finding someone who had gone missing for a few years."

Naruto's eyes widened at that. _No! He couldn't mean._ "I don't remember much about what they were saying, but they were very concerned about this person. Saying things about doing what they must to protect the Yondaime's Legacy. I didn't know who the two other people I had seen in the room was, but looking back at it now I know it was Jiraiya-sama, and the ANBU had to have been Kakashi-sensei."

Splaying her fingers he moved his to rest between hers in a more firm grip. "I got tired of listening to them and decided to explore the tower a bit. I didn't get very far before I heard quiet sobbing coming from the conference room that connects to the Hokage's office. And do you know what I found when I peeked in that room?"

The blonde shook her head, but he knew she knew when he saw the tears in the corners of her eyes. "I saw the prettiest little girl I had ever laid eyes on. Even when she was covered in filth, her blonde hair was greasy and half burnt, her clothes were too small, and her feet were dirty and covered in cuts I still had never seen someone so pretty. And when she lifted her tiny hands to wipe the tears from her eyes I saw the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen."

The young girl was fully crying now. He knew. She didn't think anyone, but Kakashi knew because he was the only one from that day left alive. She knew he'd never tell, and yet here was this boy, this young man that she had grown up with that knew. "I don't know what happened, I really don't know anything important, but when I saw you at the academy the next year I knew it had to be that same little girl. When I saw you as a boy, the pieces just clicked in my head. This is what they had to do to protect you."

He pulled her forward into his arms. "I didn't want to give it away. I stayed a great distance from you when we were children so that I wouldn't possibly blurt out that you were really a girl." Running his hands through her hair he finished. "I fell in love with you at first sight, Uzumaki Naruto. I have been waiting all these years for you to turn back into a girl so that I could tell you just how much I loved you."

And Naruto cried. Cried over something she never thought she'd have to think about again, and that fact that someone actually loved her. And Shikamaru held her while she broke down in his arms. When she quieted down she wrapped her arms around his back, fingers playing with the ends of his hair, and rested her chin on his shoulder. "When I was two," she began, "I was kicked out of the orphanage. They never took good care of me anyway. I know what you're thinking how can you remember that far back, right? Being a Jinchuriki has lots of side effects. I remember so many things that I shouldn't, but I do."

She sighed and scooted closer to him. "Kakashi-sensei, Ero-Sennin, Sandaime-jiji, and your father were the only ones to ever care for me. I know in public I made it seem like I never knew Ero-sensei and Kakashi-nii until I was a genin, but that was part of the cover. Same with your dad. I don't know if he was told or if he figured it out and confront Jiji about it, but he knew I was the Yondaime's kid, even if they didn't tell me that at the time. But they made sure, as often as they could, that I was being cared for. When I turned two I was tossed out of the only home I'd known. That was also one of the worst winters the village has ever had too."

Shikamaru pushed her back gently then got up and moved to lay against the bed. He pulled the blonde until she was resting with her head over his heart. She smiled at this. He could tell their previous position wasn't too comfortable for her sore pregnant belly. "Thank you." He nodded. Running a finger over his chest she continued. "I ran the streets until sometime after New Years, and tried to find food wherever I could. Most of the time that ended up being from dumpsters behind restaurants. But when the owners would find me they'd yell and kick and swat at me like some rodent." she shrugged.

"I guess I kind of was. Then one day I was approached by this man. He seemed really nice. He offered me food and a bed, new clothes to warm me up. I thought I was saved. That I finally found someone who'd love me. I was wrong. So, so wrong." she wiped the tears from her eyes. "He knew who I was, the filthy little demon he used to call me. He chained me up in his basement, and left me like that for so long."

Shikamaru grabbed her tighter to him. "It could have been worse. He never molested me. He would just hit me a lot. It turns out he had had a daughter. A four year old that had been killed along with his wife during the Kyuubi attack, and he blamed me for her death. Kakashi-nii found me that day you saw me. The man was killed, but I never forgot what happened. I thought.. I thought if I never mentioned it it'd go away. That's why when the seal wore off I just told people I'd had a seal since birth. Kakashi-nii would never correct me on it, and I would never have to tell everyone what happened."

"I'm sorry." the young man said. "I'm sorry that I made you remember such a thing. I promise you though, I won't say anything to anyone."

She nodded. The Nara never made many promises, but like hers when they were made they were never broken. "I should have died back then. I had often wondered why I didn't. When I found out about Kurama it made sense why I never died." She sighed, and wiped more tears from her eyes.

The young man ran his hands through her long blonde hair. "Then I have something to thank the Kyuubi for. If he hadn't kept you alive all that time I'd have never met you." He kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Naruto. I mean it. And not just because I saw you as that little girl all those years ago. As we've grown up I've gotten to know you. Some parts of your personality were made to represent the boy you were, but a lot of you is still the same. The need to protect the people you love. To make everyone happy. The fact that you are the most selfless person I have ever met. It's those qualities of your personality that kept me waiting for you all these years. I love you and want to be loved by you."

He whispered as quietly in her ear as possible. "I loved you when I let you go to Sasuke to get pregnant. I decided then and there that if it worked, that if he got you pregnant I would still want to be with you. That if you would let me I would be this baby's father." He moved her to look at him. "Let me be there for both of you. No one ever has to know."

"I'm not in love with you." Shikamaru felt his heart drop. "But you are special to me. I love you like I love all my friends, but even I can see that there is something different about the way I feel for you."

Cupping her cheek again he leaned up to kiss her. "Then starting now I want to be with you. Officially. We can date and if you feel it is right I eventually want to marry you." Her eyes widened. "We will keep it that the baby is mine. If we eventually decide this doesn't work out you can tell them we did it because of the council. I will never tell anyone about how the baby came to be. You can do that when you're ready." He kissed her again. "I want you to fall in love with me." And again. "I want you to eventually have my children." And again. "I want you to be mine and mine alone."

The next kiss she deepened. She shyly snaked her tongue out to lick his lips then drew back. "Okay."

* * *

Naruto and Shikamaru had thought that the worst of their problems would be over after that last incident. Boy, were they wrong. The next few days had been full of the gossip of Naruto's child being the next Nara heir. While that should stop the councils interference into the blonde's pregnancy the next obstacle came in the form of a five foot three brunette terror by the name of Nara Yoshino.

After an outing of grocery shopping, Konoha's newest couple made their way back home. Chatting happily they were both shocked to find the Nara matriarch standing outside her apartment door.

As soon as the older woman laid eyes on them she stalked to her son and slapped him upside the head. "Ow Kaa-chan. What was that for?" he whined, in a manly way.

She hit him again. "What the hell is wrong with you!" she screamed. "I know your father and I taught you better than this. He's rolling over in his grave knowing that you got some poor girl pregnant. And Naruto-san of all people!" Said girl winced at that. _I guess there's another person who hates me for what I am._ "Poor girl was a girl for less than a month before you knocked her up!" Yoshino turned to the jinchuriki and grabbed her hands. "I'm sorry Naruto-san. My child is an idiot! I swear we taught him better. Please forgive us for his idiocy." She bowed low to her.

Quite flustered the young girl had no idea what to say. Shikamaru hadn't actually gotten her pregnant and she felt bad lying to the lady. The blonde reached out, as if to touch her, and tried to figure out a way to lessen this poor woman's guilt. "It's ok Nara-san. Really. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Mama." Yoshino amended.

"What?" The pregnant girl asked confused.

"You're carrying my grandchild. Call me Mama. I won't hear none of this Nara-san nonsense." she stated matter of factly. "Also, Shikamaru you are no longer staying here you need to come home."

"What a minute Kaa-chan. I need to stay here. I'm sure you heard what happened to her. I can't just leave her here all alone at night where someone might try to kill our child." he protested.

"You're absolutely right!" she agreed.

"I am?" "He is?" was spoken at the same time.

"Yes, Naruto-san you're coming home with us too. Pack your bags young lady." Both young teens just stared at the woman like she was nuts. "Well chop chop kiddo's we don't have all day. Grab enough to last you for a few days, and we will get down to packing up your things in a few days."

"Nara-san-"

"Mama!"

"Mama, then, I just can't leave my home. Plus, it wouldn't be right to move into your clan home. To stay in Shikamaru's room with him." Naruto tried to reason with the lady.

Shikamaru was staying out of it. While he didn't mind Naruto living with him, feeling it would actually be better and safer for her within the compound, getting between these two hard headed woman would be more than troublesome.

"You're right about one thing. You won't be staying in Shikamaru's room. We have a spare you will be using. You two have been staying with each other for quite a while, or so I'm just now hearing." She glared at her son. "He obviously stayed long enough to impregnate you. And as you are carrying the Nara heir you will be protected in the sanctity of our ancestral home. Now, get to packing I'll meet you both at home." and she stalked off without Naruto being able to protest more.

The blonde turned to her boyfriend and slapped him in the arm. "What was that for?" he questioned. Seriously, he didn't do anything wrong, and these troublesome women just keep hitting him.

"Why the hell didn't you stand up to your mother. Now she's expecting me to move in. I can't do that Shika. This is my home and it's been my home since I was four. I don't want to leave it." she started to cry. _Stupid hormones! This isn't anything to cry over._

The brunette turned to his pregnant girlfriend and hugged her tight. "I know this is your home, but Kaa-chan's right. With everything that has happened the compound will be safer for you and the baby. I know you don't want to leave Naruto, but in another five months or so there will be another person in this apartment with us. Your place isn't that big. My home would be better."

He knelt down to kiss her belly. "The baby could have it's own room. We can decorate a nursery. I'm sure you'd like to do that right? Put in a rocking chair for you to rock him to sleep in. A place to fit all of her clothes. Doesn't that sound nice?" She looked down at him and nodded.

He stood to kiss her on the lips. "Plus, I was serious when I said I wanted to marry you. You will eventually have to leave this apartment anyway. Might as well do it now, and get used to the place before the baby arrives, right?"

"I still feel like I'm taking advantage of you." _If only._ he thought.

He kissed her again. "I want to take care of you both. We've got the spare room in the main house. You can have the room next to mine, and we can put the baby in the room across from it. That way when you eventually move into my room with me it's still close." Sighing she nodded. They spent the next few hours gathering some clothes and cleaning up her place since she wouldn't be there.

* * *

While Naruto had to spend the next few weeks adjusting to not only a new home, but the unmovable will of Yoshino, Shikamaru had a different problem. Two actually. One very protective former academy sensei, and one highly volatile, sometimes psychotic, nii-san.

Iruka had spent hours yelling at him for taking advantage of Naruto when she first became a girl. And while that was boring, and he spent most of the time just nodding his head while not listening, it didn't bother him much.

Kakashi on the other hand was much more fluent in his threats about what would and would not be permitted on his imouto while within the confines of the Nara compound. Shikamaru had already slipped passed his guard at some point to impregnate her. He would not let him continue to use her while she was living with him. Plus, since his precious sensei was not there to protect the chastity of his daughter, her loving nii-san would make sure it didn't happen again. Much to Shikamaru's annoyance.

But other than these few minor changes the next few months flew by normally.

They had had no more assassination attempts on the baby's life. Learning the baby was the next Nara heir must have been good enough for the council.

Naruto continued her Hokage training. Shikamaru was a great help in getting her to learn and remember village laws. They would spend many evenings pouring over old tomes, and scrolls depicting major historical events that had helped to shape the world as they knew it.

The blonde had also decided to not learn the gender of the baby feeling she would rather it be a surprise. With the excited insistence of Yoshino they started clearing out one of the spare bedrooms, and getting it ready for a nursery. Since they didn't know the gender they stuck to painting the walls pale green, with brown trimmings.

Sai had been kind enough to come paint cute little deer all around the room. For all of his fakeness he was genuinely happy for Naruto. She had taught him a lot about bonds and friendship. He was glad that even with the life she had had she was still able to find happiness. It made him hopeful for his future as well.

Shikamaru had made it a habit to take Naruto with him to his favorite cloud watching space nearly everyday. She was getting rounder as the days went and he could tell the heavy toll pregnancy, the constant Hokage training, and his mother was taking on her. Here they could just lay underneath the sun, sometimes stars, and nap without any interruptions.

And here they were once again under their favorite tree resting from one of Yoshino's excited ramblings about baby names. Naruto was thirty eight weeks pregnant and they still haven't decided on names yet. She figured that at this moment she didn't really know the baby, and she doubted she would be able to pick out an appropriate name until she saw him or her for the first time. So not wanting to listen to his mother again Shikamaru had just grabbed her hand and walked her to their sanctuary.

It was times like these that Naruto could tell Shikamaru loved her. When she was so frustrated and annoyed to the point of crying he'd always take her away from the problem. They'd go to their tree and he'd sit against the tree with her in front of him and just rub her lower back and shoulders.

Naruto found that once she was aware of his feelings the boy was really easy to fall in love with. He was, for lack of a better word, perfect. Now that's not to say that they hadn't had arguments over the past few months, or that everything had been some fantasy life because it hadn't.

Her pregnancy had been a strain on her emotions and physical health the bigger she'd gotten. That had also made her feel very self conscious. Then Temari coming from Suna hadn't helped, because before the war she had thought that they had had a thing. That led to a huge fight that had her staying with Iruka for a weekend since her apartment no longer belonged to her.

But with every argument big or small it helped to build a better foundation for their future. And here she was two weeks before her due date, and realizing that yes she had fallen in love with this lazy man next to her.

Shikamaru was content to sleep under the tree with Naruto curled up on his left side. When she shifted to hover over him he opened his eyes to look at her. She was really beautiful staring down at him her hair falling around them like a curtain. He was surprised though when she leaned down to kiss him. He was usually the one to initiate the contact, but he wasn't going to complain.

She broke the kiss but didn't pull back. When he opened his eyes to stare at her she whispered, "I love you.", before diving back down to recapture his lips. He threaded his fingers in her hair and practically devoured her face with lips, teeth, and tongue. His girlfriend never shied away from the sudden onslaught of his attention, and deepened the kiss from her end as well.

The young man slowly turned them over so she was laying on her back and they continued their assault. "I want you." she whispered again, and that pulled him out of his frenzy to stare at her.

"Naruto, are you sure?" he questioned. Not wanting her to feel she had to, but not wanting to deny her either for fear she'd think he wouldn't want to be with her because of her pregnant belly.

"Yes, I'm sure." She reached back to untie the halter straps to her dress. "Make me yours, Shika."

He leaned back over her as carefully as he could to kiss her again. Resting on his left forearm, he placed his other hand on her lower hip. Slowly, he dragged it up over her pregnant belly, and farther still to grab her left breast. She moaned into his mouth. The nerves of her breast were extra sensitive from their recent growth. He quickly reached up to the shirred top and dragged it down to rest above the swell of her stomach. Breaking the kiss he trailed open mouth kisses down her neck to her right breast. He sucked greedily on the nipple, as his hand massaged the other.

He knew he should have, but he didn't expect the little drops of milk that leaked from the teat. While she wouldn't be fully lactating until after the baby was born, when sucked it wasn't uncommon for the milk to be present before the birth. Or so her pregnancy book had said.

He continued to tongue the right one before switching to pay attention to its twin. Naruto was left moaning at the sensation Shika was flooding her body with. She reached up to pull his hair out of it's tie before running her fingers through his shoulder length locks. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her legs around him, but he protruding belly kept their most intimate places apart.

"More Shika." she moaned, and he moved his hands to her thighs. Rising back up to kiss her again, he slid his hands under her thighs, and lifted them to bend at the knee. When her feet were firmly on the ground he slid his hands down her smooth thighs to bunch her dress at her hips. A distant conversation about the Biju keeping her extremities hairless flitted across his mind.

One chaste kiss to the lips, and he was once again kissing his way down her body. Her neck, each breast, her stomach, and then the high inside of each thigh. Naruto threw her head back in a loud half scream when his tongue finally met her sex. Her fingers dug into the grass beneath her. She wasn't expecting this kind of pleasure from him while she was pregnant at least. But god he could keep his tongue inside forever for all she cared at that moment.

Shikamaru kissed, and licked, and caressed the lips of her vagina. Inserting a finger he began a slow sawing. He knew she hadn't had sex in a while, and he wasn't sure if it was the pregnancy or the fact that the baby would be born soon that was making her so tight. But Kami-sama she was tight. She clenched around his finger like she never wanted to let it go.

As carefully as he could slid in a second and worked to stretching her as best as he could. Her moaning was music to his ears. Every time he'd spread his fingers to stretch her on the way out he would suck or nip on her little bundle of nerves. He could tell she was close to her first orgasm of the night when she started rocking her hips closer to his face.

He tilted and curved up his index and middle fingers trying to find the spot inside he knew would drive her over the edge. The moment he found it she screamed wordlessly into the early nighttime air.

Leaning up to watch the rise and fall of her chest as she tried to regain control of her body he couldn't help the satisfied smirk that crossed his lips. Still slowly pumping her with his fingers he was in awe of her beauty. The light sheen of sweat, the blonde hair in disarray, the clouded lust filled eyes. She was stunning.

When Naruto came down from her high she turned a contented smile at this man she never knew she'd fall in love with. Butterflies flittered across her stomach at the sight of him. Lifting herself into a sitting position she clumsily tried to get to her knees. Shikamaru reached out to help her move to where she wanted to be.

Reaching out she unzipped his green flak vest and shoved it off his shoulders, then grabbed his shirt to remove as well. She leaned forward to kiss him before grabbing the tie to his pants. Once she undid that she slowed down a little not sure what to do. He chuckled at the dwindling enthusiasm, and move to lean against the tree. When he was comfortable he took off his pants and underwear.

Once again Naruto trailed her lust clouded eyes up his form, and licked her lips. He would never get tired of that expression from her. Leaning forward he grabbed her wrist to pull her towards him. She knee walked the distance until she was as flat against him as she could be.

The blonde knew sex was possible during pregnancy, she'd read it and the best possible positions in her book. On top or in the proverbial doggy-style was what she was left with as probably the easiest to maintain. Not wanting him behind her on their first time together she figured on top was best. The only problem now was how to go about it.

Sensing her nervousness Shikamaru leaned forward to capture her lips in a mind numbing kiss. He gently grabbed her hips and helped to position her to take in his full length a little at time. She winced as the head slowly made its way inside her.

"It's okay." He whispered into her hair. "Take your time. I love you" She nodded as tried to relax. Breathing in and out as deeply as she could. She leaned over to kiss him again as she took him inside her inch by inch. When she was fully seated on him he gave a short thrust up that had her moaning and throwing her head back.

Both started out with a slow mismatched rhythm. Her rocking hips gradually began to gain more confidence when meeting his thrusts. It didn't take them long to find a tempo that they both enjoyed.

They continued like this for a while. Thrusting, kissing, rocking, neither in a hurry to get to where they'd both eventually end up. They wanted to enjoy their first time for as long as they could.

It wasn't long until Shikamaru gave a particularly sharp thrust that had Naruto screaming and wetness running down his shaft and all over his lap. But it wasn't a scream of pleasure that he'd heard, it was one of pain. He quickly lifted her off him while she fell against him shivering in pain.

Too much fluid was coming out and he immediately caught on to what had happened. Naruto's water had broke. Cursing himself he hurriedly got dressed, and pulled her clothes up to be decent.

"It hurts." She whined as he picked her up.

"It's okay." he tried to console her. "You're water just broke. I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No. It's too early. They baby's not due for another two weeks." she cried. Her stomach was still tingling from the pain, but the sharp contraction had subsided.

"The baby will be fine." he assured her. "The book said as long as you were thirty eight weeks or more the baby is fully developed. He's just excited to see you."

Shikamaru burst through the hospital doors with his most treasured being curled in his arms. "Her water broke." he told the nurse who ran up to him. "Call for Tsunade-sama." The nurse tried to get the young man to put Naruto on a gurney to be taken to her room, but he refused and told her to lead them. He would carry her until he got her where she needed to be.

Tsunade-sama joined them in her room about ten minutes later. "So it's time, huh? Guess he's just as impatient about things as you are." she smiled at the young blonde. "How far apart are your contractions?" She had asked, but there was no answer since Naruto hadn't had a second one since her water broke. "Well looks like we are in for a long night." she drawled.

And a long night it was. One hour turned into two which quickly turned into six. All of their former classmates and Gai's team had showed up to visit once they'd heard she'd been admitted. But with the evening turning into night visiting hours were over, and they were forced to go home.

Yoshino, though, had stayed with her son, and hopefully future daughter-in-law while they waited for her to fully dilate.

The previous day had left several hours ago and the new days sun was starting to rise when Naruto started to feel a lot of discomfort. "Shika. Shika." She grabbed his shoulder to shake him awake. When he turned sleep ridden eyes to her she continued. "Something doesn't feel right. Get the nurse." No sooner had those words left her lips that he was up running to the door yelling for a nurse.

Tsunade-sama, who had been sleeping in one of the nap beds for the late shift hospital staff, ran in to see what was wrong. Walking over to Naruto she lifted her gown to see what was going on only to be met with a crown of thin ebony hair.

"It's alright Naruto. The baby's crowning." She moved to get everything ready for the birthing. "Yoshino-san if you would please." she gestured to the door.

The brunette just smiled and walked over to quickly kiss Naruto and Shikamaru's cheeks before heading to the door. "Good luck!" she said as she left.

By that time Shizune was ready to make her way into the room. While Tsunade-sama would be delivering the baby and taking care of Naruto afterwards, Shizune was tasked with the baby and it's needs.

Shikamaru stood next to Naruto and held her hand. "You ready?" She nodded eagerly.

"Okay, Naruto we are going to take this in steps. I'll count to three and you'll push. Then take a few deep breaths and then we'll repeat." She nodded again, and Tsunade counted to three.

Naruto pushed as hard as she could. Over and over. The entire birthing took about twenty minutes before she gave one last anguished push, and the room was filled with an infant's cry.

"It's a boy!" Tsunade said proudly as she wrapped him in a towel, handed him to his mother, and went back to finish cleaning Naruto up.

"A boy, a son. We have a son." She told Shikamaru. He bent down to kiss her forehead before smoothing back her bangs, and gently resting his hand on the tiny bundles back.

Naruto cried heavy tears as she lifted him up to kiss his head. A son. Sasuke's son. She had given him a son. He had a little tuft of dark ebony hair that stuck out all over the place. _It'll probably end up untamable like mine and Tou-chan's._ She mused to herself.

"I need to take him now, Naruto." Shizune said softly. "I have to clean him up, and make sure everything is alright, okay?" She slowly reached out to take the baby from the new mother.

Naruto reluctantly handed him over. "Alright, just hurry back, okay?" She was wary about not being near her son. Just because the elders had stopped trying to kill the baby in utero didn't mean they wouldn't try again now that the boy was out.

"He'll be fine." Shikamaru tried to assure her.

Shizune was gone for no more than fifteen to twenty minutes, but Naruto didn't relax until he was safely back in her arms.

"Would you like to hold him." She moved to hand her son to one of the two most important men responsible for this child being here.

Shikamaru nodded his head and moved to sit next to her on the bed. Slowly, he reached out to cradle the boy who he would forever see as his son.

That was the scene Yoshino walked into when she came to see her grandchild. Her son, holding his son, with the woman he loved leaning into him cradling the child in his hold.

_I wish you could see your son, Shikaku._ She thought with tears in her eyes.

Walking over she sat in front of her own child and held out her arms. "I won't take him for long. I know you two probably want to spend some time together as a family. Let me hold him for a bit then I'll get out of your hair." She spoke quietly.

Naruto shook her head. "You are family, Mama." And nudged Shikamaru to hand their son to his grandmother.

When he was safely cradled in her arms she touched his soft face. "He's beautiful. Does he have a name yet?" The two shook their heads. "Well picking the perfect name is a huge decision. I'm sure you'll know when the right one comes along."

Kissing her grandson on the top of his head she handed him back to her son. Standing to leave she leaned down to place a kiss on both of her children's heads. "Congratulations. I'll go home and make sure everything is ready for when you both come home in a few days."

"You know," Naruto started after she walked out the door, "She annoys me with her stubbornness sometimes, but I don't know what we'd do without her, Shika." She leaned back into his side. "But then again I have often felt that way about you and your father. Must be something in the Nara blood that makes you want to take care of me." She smiled at him.

"Maybe there is just something about you that makes us want to protect you."

"Can you do me a favor tonight?" She whispered to him not wanting anyone to possibly overhear. At his nod she finished. "Tonight there is something I have to do. Outside the hospital. Can you take us all there? I don't know if I can walk the whole way."

He gave her a stern look. "You shouldn't be leaving the hospital so soon after giving birth." He reprimanded.

"I promise we will come right back with no fuss. It's just tonight, after dark, for a few hours. Please?" With a sigh he nodded. It shouldn't be too big a deal if he's carrying her. Plus, if she rests all day than an hour or so outside tonight shouldn't be all that stressful on her.

The late morning and early afternoon was filled with the visits of friends and family. There were many half hearted complaints that the little guy still didn't have a name, but they were all happy that he was finally here and healthy.

Much to Ino's chagrin the baby wasn't a girl, but she was still excited none-the-less. Naruto kept the baby close to her, and refused to let any of the visitors hold the baby, which really frustrated the females of the group. It wasn't until a little before noon that Choji could make it in to visit. Naruto was adamant that the first non-family member to hold the baby was to be Choji. If he hadn't saved her all those months ago they might not be sitting here sharing this joy with all of them.

Once Choji was done it was almost like an all out war between Sakura and Ino and who'd get to hold the baby first. Both were quite surprised when Hinata, gently, shoved them both out of the way to hold the son of her hero.

And so the day went with laughter and joyous tears. When night fell Naruto waited until her nurse came in for her check up. They would come in about every four hours and make sure she wasn't in any pain, and check to see that the baby was eating.

When she left Shikamaru helped Naruto to get dressed. Pulling on a long t-shirt and sweat pants. Together they dressed the baby, grabbed a few diapers and wipes, and bundled him up in a blanket to stay warm.

The blonde cradled her precious son to her chest and nodded at Shikamaru that she was ready to go. He carefully picked her up, made sure she had a secure hold on the baby, and left out the window following her quiet directions into the woods.

It took about twenty minutes to reach their destination at the pace the young man walked. Naruto pointed towards a small clearing within the forest. There against a tree was a large stone with two smaller stones in front of it. Three kunai pierced the tops of each stone and was held together by wire. The kanji for teacher etched into the middle of it.

As they walked closer Naruto started to speak. "When Ero-sennin died there was no body to bury. So he was never given a proper resting place within the village. I made this for him after my battle with Pein."

When they got to it Naruto mentioned for him to go around the tree. There on the opposite side was the same memorial, except the kanji on this one read brother. Walking in front of it he sat her down between the two smaller stones, and stepped back so she could do what she came her to do.

Taking her son Naruto laid him down in front of the larger stone. "I told you when I built this grave for you that I was pregnant." She wiped the tears already starting to flow from her eyes. "This is our son Sasuke. This is your legacy. Beautiful isn't he?"

The infant started to squirm and make fussing noises. Naruto reached down to touch his belly and soothe him. To let him know she hadn't left him. He opened his eyes, and she could swear they were blue. Her blue. "He has your hair color Teme, but I think he'll have my blue eyes. I don't know what that will mean for the Sharingan though. I guess we will have to see what his future holds."

Smoothing her hand down the baby's face she continued to talk to her friend. "I haven't thought of a name yet. I keep trying to think of a name that would sound Uchiha-ish enough for you."

She felt the grass shift beside her as Shikamaru kneeled beside her. "Kaien." He said.

Turning to look at him she looked confused. "You have never mentioned this before."

Wrapping his arm around her shoulder he explained. "Before Sasuke was killed that day he asked to speak with me. I never told you because I knew it was me he wanted to talk to. He told me that day that if it was a boy he liked the name Kaien. I didn't say anything to you before because we didn't know what gender the baby was. I didn't want to tell you and have you be disappointed if it was a girl, and you couldn't give her the name Sasuke picked out. And with everyone coming and going from the room today I didn't have a chance to tell you."

She nodded. She understood why he didn't say anything and wasn't upset with him for just now telling her. "Nara Kaien then. I know Teme I said Nara. Shikamaru has promised to raise you son with me. To treat him as his own. We had some problems with the council, but Shika claimed your son and fixed them for us. But while he will be a Nara for now, I promise you when he is sixteen he will be rightfully given the Uchiha name as is his birthright. I will protect him, and love him. I will watch over him as he grows and starts his own family, and brings new life to your clan." She was crying heavily by now. "You will see Teme, the Uchiha might be gone for now, but they won't be gone for good. Shikamaru and I will teach your son what it means to love, to be loved, and to honor those who have lived and died to bring us into this world. He will be everything you'd have hoped for in a child. And most of all he will be happy."

She sat up on her knees and leaned forward to kiss the stone monument. Picking up her son she kissed him on the head as well before leaning into Shikamaru and nodding her head in a silent request to leave. He gathered his new family protectively into his arms, and turned to walk away.

"Wait, one more thing." Naruto said to make him stop. Turning to look over his shoulder she smiled at the grave. "Happy Birthday, Teme." She said quietly. "I hope you like your present."

That stunned Shikamaru. Today was Sasuke's birthday? He had had no idea. No wonder she had to come today. For everything thing that had happened for Kaien to be born, and the fact that he was two weeks early and born the same day as his birth father. It seemed maybe Sasuke was watching over them from the next life. Making sure his presence wasn't forgotten.

* * *

"I share the same birthday with my father. I mean my birth father?" Kaien questioned.

"Shikamaru is your dad, Kaien, your Tou-chan. But I think Sasuke would have enjoyed being called Chichue if you'd liked to refer to him as that. He always seemed kind of formal like that. That way you don't have to keep referring to his as your birth father or real father. Because, honey, Shikamaru is your real father too. You wouldn't be here without him." Naruto nodded at him.

"But to answer your question yes you share the same birthday as Sasuke. I always wondered though, if you were my gift to him or his last gift to me. Either way I know we both love you."

"I just… I don't know what to say. All that really happened?" The poor young man was stunned to learn the truth about not only his _Chichue_, as his mother had called him, but his eventual birth too.

"Yes." His father finally spoke. "It was a very hard time for us. Between Sasuke's death, and the hostility of the council towards your mother's unwed pregnancy. It was extremely difficult. But as I have told you before nothing in this world is worth having if you aren't willing to fight for it."

"Don't ever doubt our love for you Kaien, especially your fathers. He was there for me every step of the way when he didn't have to be. He chose to be your father from the moment he knew I decided to go to Sasuke. He has always included you in every aspect of our life. When he proposed to me under this tree six months after you were born, he refused to let your grandmother babysit you. He wanted you to be here when he asked." She looked at Shikamaru and laced their fingers together. Turning back to her son she went on. "He told me when he asked me that you had to be with me because you are a major part of my life. And that when he married me he knew he was joining our family. That you would always be with me."

"He has always included you in everything. When Shikari, was born it never changed how he felt about you. And not just Kari, but Daichi, Minako, and Asuma-chan too. No matter how many kids we had of his family blood he never changed in the way he treated or loved you."

Leaning forward she grabbed his hand to bring to her hand already holding Shika's. Placing her sons hand in the larger one of her husband she closed both of hers around theirs. "Please don't ever say that he isn't your father, or that you aren't his son because you are. You are his child as much as you are mine."

Naruto watched the tears fill her son blue eyes as he nodded to her. They had done so much more for him than he had ever known. How had he gotten so lucky to have not only the greatest parents in the world, but kindest, and most loving ones as well.

"I will warn you though, son." Shikamaru said never letting go of that hand. "We had wanted to wait until you were older to tell you these things, but word will get around that you are Sasuke's child. The Uchiha heir." Making sure Kaien was looking at him and listening he went on. "There are still people in this world who bear grudges against the Uchiha, and your father. We didn't tell you to protect you. But now they will know and you will learn who your true friends and enemies are."

Naruto spoke up next. "You must be careful to see the deceit of those who will come after you because of the Sharingan. Those who will want to be closer to you because of your bloodline. There will be those who will openly hate you for being Sasuke's child, and there will be those who will try to get close to you because of it."

Sighing heavily Naruto went on to say things she wished she'd never have to say to her child. "The people of this village was cruel to me as a child, but I never let it get me down. You will have to be the bigger person Kaien, for to lash out and retaliate would bring you down to their level. There will be days when you feel the village is too small and overwhelming from the hate they will shove at you. But know you can always come to us. If the only way for you to get rid of those negative emotions is to physically removed it, then we would be happy to spend hours training with you to relieve that stress."

Shikamaru took over when she finished. "People will fear you. People will hate you. Mostly people will be jealous of what you have. Your Uchiha blood, that fact that you are the Rokudaime's son, that I claim you as mine, the friends and family you have accumulated over the years." Reaching up to grab hold of his face, Shikamaru stared him in the eyes. "Make no mistake that these people will exist. That they will scorn you, and tear into the crimes of your father. To try to make you pay for his sins. But know that no matter what Sasuke has or hasn't done in this world has no value on who you are. No matter how many people in this world turn on you or detest you for your Uchiha blood remember, my son, that you like everyone else in this world had a right to be born. To be here. To live. And live your life, not Sasuke's or his clans, or even you mothers or mine. Your life is what you chose to make it. I believe we have raised you well enough to make the right decisions no matter what situation you are put in."

Kaien nodded as the tears fell onto his fathers warm hands. His mother reached up to wipe away as many as she could. He wasn't Sasuke. He didn't even know the guy existed until today. Calming himself he smiled at his parents. Because that's who they were, both of them.

Standing Naruto pulled her son into a hug. "Now, let's go home and fill your grandmother in before she hears it from someone else, and beats us to death with a spatchula."

* * *

Wow I finally finished it. Of course rereading it there are some parts of this chapter I'm not happy with, but as I reread it I couldn't figure out how to make it better. I hope the marriage proposal part, and the first doctors visit was easy to understand.

I also know I am a horrible human being for making Shikamaru's first time having sex end that way haha. But I tried to make my story as original as possible. I being a rabid fan of femnaru am tired of reading so many stories with similar plots. Not that I don't appreciate the time people have taken into writing and putting up stories.

As for Naruto and Shika's other 4 kids I didn't put that much thought into them. For those that might want a little bit of background of them I'll give a bit here.

Shikari is 10. I know the word Hikari means light in japanese. And I wanted a Shika starting name for the Nara heir. So I combined it with Hikari. I would assume it would stand for something along the line of Shika's light. She's got brunette hair and Naruto's blue eyes.

Daichi would be 7. Daichi, according to baby name meanings, can mean large or great, wisdom/intelligence. I found that quite fitting for a Nara. Although, Daichi I pictured as having the trademark red hair of the Uzumaki clan. According to Naruto wikia Kushina had violet eyes, so I figured at least one of Naruto's kids would take after the Uzumaki.

Minako is next and 5. I chose the name because she looks exactly like Naruto and Minato. Obviously she is named after the Yondaime.

And Asuma-chan is 2. If you can't guess who he's named after why are you reading Naruto fanfiction? :P He would be Shikamaru and Shikaku's clone. Pineapple hair tie, dark hair, dark eyes.

I wasn't sure how to end it. I was almost going to end it without the last paragraph and just have Kaien say Yeah, believe it. as a sort of joke because I hate the english version of Naruto yelling that every few minutes but I went with something different. From what I've seen Kushina and Yoshino are Naruto's version or Chichi from DBZ.

Anyway this is the end. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review. I have a couple more plots running through my head that I might actually take the time to type out. I really need to figure out where I want Because I was Selfish to go and finish that one as well.

Hope to see you all again!

Envy


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